28 Monograph of the Cranes. 



we were then told by that ornithologist (who accepts the proposed genus 

 Anthrojpoides for the reception of this and the preceding species) that 

 " Africa is undoubtedly the true habitat of the members of this genus, of 

 which the bird here figured is a typical example ; at the same time/ he 

 addsj " that the range of the present species is exceedingly extensive is 

 proved by the circumstance of our having lately seen a specimen killed m 

 NipMj and we are of opinion that it is also sparingly dispersed over other 

 parts of India." Strange to say, it is included neither in Major James 

 Franklin's " Catalogue of Birds (systematically arranged) which were 

 collected on the Granges between Calcutta and Benares, and in the Vindhyian 

 hills between the latter place and Gurrah Mundela, on the Nerbudda," 

 which was published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1831, 

 nor in the late Col. Sykes's catalogue of those which he observed in the 

 'Dukhun, which appeared in the same Society's proceedings for 1832; and 

 it was not until 1840 that that portion of Dr. Jerdon's " Catalogue of the 

 Birds of the Peninsula of India" appeared in the Madras Journal of 

 Literature and Science, that we were told by him that " This most elegant 

 and chastely-coloured bird is found over most of the peninsula of India 

 during the cold weather, and in much greater numbers than either G. 

 antigone and 0. communis. Like these, it is most abundant in the , 

 neighbourhood of the larger rivers, and has similar habits and food." In 

 the third volume of the same naturalist's " Birds of India " (published in 

 1864), he remarks : 



This beautiful crane is found throughout the greater part of India, is more rare in 

 the extreme south, and is never seen in Malabar nor in Lower Bengal ; one \vriter says 

 that it is never met with below Dinapore. It is a cold-weather visitor generally, only 

 coming in late in October, and its arrival, like that of 0. commvmie, is hailed with joy 

 J as a sure sign that the cold weather is indeed come. It associates in numerous flocks, 

 from fifty to five hundred, and chiefly frequents the vicinity of rivers, as it invariably, 

 laccording to my experience, betakes itself during the heat of the day to drink and 

 rest, and never to tanks or jheels, as the s&cis and common crane do. [In reference to 

 this statement Capt. Butler, of the 8iird Regiment, says : " This is an erroneous 

 impression, as I have seen tanks fringed with a blue margin of these birds at least 

 sixty yards wide, and extending over several acres of ground."] It is very destructive 

 to grain fields, especially to wheat in Central India, and to chenna (Oicer arietinum) in 

 the Dnkhun. These birds fly with great regularity, either in a long continuous line or 

 in a double wedge-shaped line, and then utter their fine clanging note frequently. 



Latham in his " General History of Birds," vol. ix., p. 29, tells us that 

 "this is a common species in India, being seen with the Indian crane 

 [meaning the European crane] in vast flocks, on the banks of the Ganges 

 (Pennant, Ind. Zool.), where it is called ' Curcuma,' and ' currakeeV 

 Pocock," he remarks, " styles it the Dancing Bird." In his " Notes on 

 Birds observed in Oudh and Kumaon," Major Irby remarks that the 

 Demoiselle Crane " occurs in immense flocks daring the cold season, being 

 found in the same localities as Orus communis. At Sirsa Gh^t, on the 



