COMMON CRANE. 
.525 
red : tlie breast and all the under parts of the body 
are similar to the back : the greater wing-coverts 
are blackish ; and those farthest from the body, 
with the bastard wing, and quills, black : from 
the pinion of each wing springs an elegant tuft of 
loose feathers, curled at the ends, which can be 
erected at will, but which in a quiescent state 
hangs over and covers the tail : the beak is greenish 
black, but of a horn-colour towards the tip, and 
reddish at the base : the hides are red-brown : 
the legs black. In very old birds there is a large 
whitish space behind the eye, and on the lateral 
part of the top of the neck. The young before 
their second autumnal moult have the head clothed 
with down, and the deep dusky patch on the fore- 
part of the neck and the occiput does not exist, 
but those parts are spotted longitudinally with that 
colour. 
This species is abundant throughout northern 
Europe and Asia: it frequents marshy places, 
feeding upon seeds and young plants, also worms, 
frogs, snails, &c. : it is migratory, retiring north- 
ward in the spring to breed, and in the winter 
season inhabiting the warmer regions of Egypt 
and India. It was formerly abundant in England, 
and formed part of the great feasts of those days, 
where dozens were served up at a time: within these 
sixty years not more than four or five specimens 
have been seen in these parts ; the last was shot 
in Cambridgeshire, above forty years since. It is 
said to fly remarkably high during its migrations, 
which are generally performed in the night ; but it 
