574 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



have been found. They vary in ground-colour from brownish buff to 

 greenish buflF^ spotted and blotched with rich brown, and with underlying 

 markings of paler brown and greyish pink. Some specimens have most of 

 the markings on the large end, where they form a semi-confluent mass ; in 

 some they form an irregtdar zone ; whilst in others they are evenly distri- 

 buted over the entire surface, many being indistinct and confluent. Some 

 specimens have much of the brown surface-colour clouded over the shell, 

 with one or two large spots and an indistinct mass of colour at the large 

 end, intermingled with a few dark- brown spots. The shell is con- 

 spicuously pitted, almost like pig-skin, and shows little gloss. They vary 

 in length from 4'1 to 3'5 inch, and in breadth from 2"5 to 2'3 inch. 

 The eggs of the Common Crane may always be distinguished from those of 

 the Demoiselle Crane by their larger size, but the variations in colour and 

 shape are common to those of both species. 



The Crane is one of the largest birds that visit our islands, and stands 

 from three to four feet in-height. The general colour of the plumage is 

 pale slate-grey, shading into black on the quills and innermost secondaries, 

 which are elongated and disintegrated into handsome plumes, which conceal 

 the tail. The sides of the upper half of the neck are white up to the eye ; 

 but the nape, chin, and upper throat are very dark slate-grey ; on the crown 

 is a scarlet warty patch devoid of feathers ; the forehead and lores are 

 covered with dark hairs. Bill greyish olive ; legs, feet, and claws nearly 

 black ; irides deep crimson. The female differs very slightly from the male 

 in colour. Young in first plumage have the parts of the head which are 

 naked in the adult covered with feathers, and the black and white on the 

 head and upper part of the neck are replaced by brown and grey ; the plumes 

 are much smaller and less curled. After the first spring moult it has 

 assumed a nearly adult plumage. There can be little doubt that the adult 

 bird has also a spring moult," and that the winter plumage is browner than 

 that of summer, the red crown much less vivid, and the nuptial plumes not 

 so weU developed. The young in down are chestnut-brown above, shading 

 into paler brown below. 



