COMMON CRANE. 571 



Atnoor. West of Russia and south of the Baltic it is a very local bird 

 during the breeding-season. Beyond the Baltic Provinces and Poland its 

 breeding-range extends through Pomerania to the Elbe^ and in South 

 Russia into the valley of the Lower Danube. Further west we have 

 no reliable evidence of its breeding, except in the marshes of Andalusia, 

 where Saunders and Irby obtained its eggs. In other parts of Europe 

 it is only seen on migration to its winter-quarters in North Africa. It 

 winters in Algeria, Egypt, Nubia, and Sennar, and occasionally in various 

 parts of Southern Europe, Palestine, and Persia. Eastwards it breeds in 

 Russian Turkestan ; passes through Mongolia, North China, and Japan 

 on migration; and winters in South China, India, and possibly Burma. 

 The Crane has several allies in Asia and America, but none with which it 

 can easily be confounded. Blyth suspected that the Cranes in the east 

 differed slightly from those in the west, having less black on the plumes 

 and less red on the crown, and the plumage being generally browner ; but 

 subsequent researches have not confirmed this view. 



There are many interesting points in the history of the Crane. Its home 

 is on the plains, in their wettest part. It is rarely found except in places 

 which are half lake and half swamp. It never perches in a tree, and never 

 builds its nest on a tree, but it does not object to the vicinity of trees. I 

 have heard them calling to their young in the forests of Pomerania, and 

 seen them flying over the trees in small flocks in June. In these forests are 

 swampy places, where the trees are drowned out, and where rushes, coarse 

 grass, and sedge grow in small hummocks, with clear water between ; and 

 on the outskirts of the forests are extensive moors, where similar swampy 

 placea, generally with a lake in the middle of them, are found. In both 

 these localities the Crane breeds. I found it quite as abundant near the 

 treeless steppes of the Danube, on the swampy margins of the lagoons which 

 are so common on the western shores of the Black Sea, and doubtless are the 

 remains of old mouths of the Danube. In both these localities the Crane 

 was more or less gregarious, even in the middle of the breeding-season. 

 Like most other large birds, it is very shy ; and flocks of Cranes always, it 

 is said, appoint one of their number to act as spy, and give the alarm to 

 the rest on the approach of danger. They are diurnal birds, and may be 

 seen feeding at all hours of the day, and they migrate during the day in 

 flocks. It is a very interesting sight to watch them on their migrations. 

 They fly very high and very quick, like Wild Geese or Swans, and, as these 

 birds do, they keep in a line together like a regiment of soldiers, as if 

 actuated by one mind. This line is generally V-shaped, often it changes 

 to W-shaped ; but in spite of the great speed, every movement is conducted 

 with wonderful regularity. The mode of flight resembles that of a Stork, 

 inasmuch as the neck is fully outstretched; but it approaches that of the 

 Heron in the fact that the legs wjien extended form a perfectly straight 



