GRUID^.— GRUS 135 



Family GEUID^. True Cranes. 



Bill equal to or longer than head, stout, straight, and slightly cleft. Nostril 

 shut in by large posterior membrane. Lower mandible slightly grooved. Mid 

 claw smooth. Hind toe small and raised. Large size. Plumage grey or white. 

 Long neck and legs. Eectrices twelve, primaries eleven. Sternum with no 

 notches behind, but perforated in front. No powder-down patches. Inner 

 secondaries longer than primaries, and generally composed of drooping plumes 

 with dissociated webs. Fifth secondary wanting. Small after-shaft. 



Inhabit the Palsearctic region, migrating to India and N. Africa in winter. 

 A rare straggler to portion of the United Kingdom, probably from Scandinavia. 

 Migratory and gregarious. Breed on the ground. Two eggs. Appear to pair 

 for life. Young hatched clad in down and run at once. 'Externally allied to 

 Bustards ; while internal anatomy is more that of Plovers. 



Genus ORUS. 



Cfrus=a. Crane, in olaasioal Latin ; akin to yipavos, gallus, garrio = l chatter, etc. 



Base of bill, orbits, and sometimes whole head nude. Wings long, third quill 

 usually longest. Kemiges thirty-three. Tertiaries lengthened and overhanging. 

 Tail short. Sexes alike. The greater part of Europe and N. Asia, N.E. Africa, 

 India, China, and N. America. 



WitJiout straw-like bristles on the nape. Nostrils linear. 

 110. Grus commitnis. The Common Crane. 



Kooroonch, Koopch, N.W.P.; Kul-lung, Upper India; Kunj, Sind ; Kallam, 

 Deccan; Kulungi (Telugu) ; Wainu, Manipur. 



<J 43" to 48"; 9 J to 13 lbs. Legs dull black. Mid toe and claw 4-2". BiU 

 green, tip white. Slate-coloured patch between gape and eye. Forehead nude, 

 with black hairs. Crown nude, blackish, with occipital red band. "White bands 

 from eyes, which continue and meet down back of neck. Five or six beautifully 

 curled lavender feathers with black tips at elbow of wing. Plumage ashy blue. 

 Inner secondaries with drooping plumes of decomposed feathers. — Young birds 

 want the naked patch. Migratory. N. Europe and N. Asia, wintering in 

 S. Europe, N. Africa, S.W. Asia, N. India, and China. Arrives in India in 

 August and leaves in March. Two or three eggs (3-9 x 2-4), grey, blotched and 

 spotted red-brown. (J. 865. B. 1407. H. & M. iii. 21.) See illustration, p. 136. 



Also G. lilfordi. The same species aa G. communis, but catalogued as distinct. 



G. mexkana. 40°. Mid toe and claw 4". From U.S. America. 



G. canadensis. 35". Mid toe and claw 3-3". The Brown Crane from N. America. 



G. monachus. 36". Mid toe and claw 4-1". Breeds in Siberia, winters in China. 



G. nigricollis. 48". From Kokonor. 



G. japonensis. 50". Mid toe and claw 5-2". From E. "Siberia and Japan, and wintering in 

 China. 



Also ten fossil species (three from Italy, one Malta, one Greece, two France, one Hampshire, 

 one New Jersey, and one Nebraska). 



Also the genus Idmnogeranus, with crown and cheeks bare. One species — L. ainericanus, 

 48", mid toe and claw 4-4". The Hooping Crane, from N. America. (B.M. Cat., xxiii. 

 253-260.) 



