338 



mandible; iris reddish; legs blackish grey. Total length 45 inches, culmen 4 - 7, wing 24, tail 8 - l, 

 tarsus 9 - 6. 



Nestling ("Wermland, Sweden, 30th of May) . Covered with close soft down ; upper parts brownish-sand- 

 colour; on the head, centre of the back, rump, and edge of the wing-joint rufous brown; underparts 

 light reddish brown; abdomen dirty white. A much older bird in Baron von Hugel's collection is 

 similar to that above described, but, if any thing, rather paler. 



Obs. In the summer plumage the upper parts have a dull rusty brown tinge ; and there has been considerable 

 doubt as to how this colour is caused, whether by the ferruginous water of the marshes or a natural 

 colouring of the feathers. Von Homeyer considers that the bird plasters its back with earth, so that 

 when sitting it may not be so easily discerned, and states that he has himself seen the bird put the 

 earth on its back ; but Gloger doubts this being the case. Meves analyzed this colouring-matter, and 

 found it to contain ferruginous matter, and is therefore inclined to side with Mr. von Homeyer as to 

 the cause of this discoloration. 



The Crane inhabits during the summer season the northern portions of Europe and Asia, 

 migrating southward when the autumn sets in ; it has, however, been met with breeding as far 

 south in Europe as Spain. In Great Britain it is now scarcely ever seen, though formerly it 

 was, according to Ray and Willughby, resident in this country. Mr. A. G. More writes that 

 " the Crane is spoken of by Turner (Avium Historia, 1543) as breeding in this country. This 

 author says, ' earum pipiones ipse ssepissime vidi;' and an Act of Parliament, passed in 1553, 

 made the taking of a Crane's egg an offence punishable with a fine of twenty pence. But the 

 bird could not have long continued the practice of breeding with us ; for to Sir Thomas Browne 

 and John Bay it was only known as a winter visitant. As in several other cases the bird's name 

 remains, and in many parts of the country the Heron is commonly known as the ' Crane.' " " In 

 Scotland," Mr. Robert Gray writes, " it is very rare, and has only been met with in two instances 

 in any of the western counties. A young bird, which I have seen and examined, was shot on 

 Dundonnell estate, near the head of Loch Broom, West Ross-shire, in September 1869. Another 

 was seen in March 1870 at Torridon, in the same county, by a keeper, who shot at the bird, but 

 it made its escape. I obtained these particulars in the neighbourhood personally, about a month 

 afterwards. It has, perhaps, occurred more frequently in Orkney and Shetland than elsewhere 

 in Britain. The years 1807, 1832, and 1833 may be mentioned in connexion with its appearance. 

 In Mr. Dunn's copy of Baikie and Heddle's work a note in MS. by one of the authors states that a 

 specimen was killed in Shetland in 1848. I examined a very fine bird of this species, which was 

 shot near Hawick, in May 1863 : the specimen is still in the possession of Mr. Forrest, gunmaker, 

 Jedburgh. Dr. Saxby mentions that two were shot in Shetland in 1865 — one in July by himself, 

 the other at Haroldswick a few weeks previously, — and also that he obtained a male in the island 

 of Unst, in the end of May 1869, where a pair had been seen on the 11th of the same month. 

 One, an immature specimen, was killed on the banks of the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, in the end 

 of May 1851, by Mr. Francis Anderson, and is still in that gentleman's possession. This bird, 

 as I have been informed by Mr. Angus, frequented a field contiguous to the river for several days. 

 It was wounded in the evening about dusk, and in the darkness escaped by flying into a neigh- 

 bouring wood. It was, however, shot dead next morning while roosting in a tree. The specimen 



