INTEODTJCTION. 



43 



lands up to the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was 

 one of the largest of true British Birds ; now it is but a rare 

 visitor to our shores. Its nest is never built in a tree, but on 

 a small mound or " hummock '' in some swamp. Cranes are 



Fig. 42. 



The Wood Stork {Mycteria amencana). 



even said never to perch on a tree, and they feed largely on 

 vegetable substances. The Demoiselle Crane ( Grus virgo, fig. 43) 

 is a very elegant Bird, still more rarely found in our Islaaids. 

 •About seventeen species of the Crane family are known, whereof 

 all but three are inhabitants of the Old World. Amongst these 



