354 



Although found chiefly in Southern and South-eastern Europe, the present species has more 

 than once straggled as far north as Scandinavia and the British Isles. In Africa it has been 

 met with as far south as Natal ; and in Asia it ranges eastward to China. 



The only recorded occurrence of the Demoiselle or Numidian Crane in Great Britain is that 

 of one which was shot at Deerness, near Kirkwall, on the 14th of May, 1863, and is now in the 

 collection of W. Christy Horsfall, Esq., of Horseforth-Low Hall, near Leeds, Yorkshire. Nilsson 

 states that early in June 1857 an example was shot in Sweden, in Askers Parish, Nerike, by 

 Mr. C. Dalin, a student, and is now in the museum at Orebro ; and Dr. Sundstrom, of Stockholm, 

 informs me that a second specimen was shot at Boo, near Stromstad, in May 1874, and was 

 presented to the museum of that town. 



So far as I can ascertain, there is no authentic instance of its capture in North Germany ; 

 but, according to Naumann, one is said to have been shot in Upper Silesia very many years ago, 

 and he adds that one was certainly obtained in Heligoland in April 1837. This Crane does not 

 appear to have straggled to Holland, Belgium, or France ; but Degland and Gerbe say that it is 

 of accidental occurrence in Switzerland and Piedmont. Nor do I find it recorded from Portugal ; 

 but in Spain, Colonel Irby writes (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 182), " I failed to meet with this Crane near 

 Casa Vieja, but strongly suspect that in some seasons it nests there ; indeed a pair of Crane's eggs 

 that were brought to me were so small that I could not refer them to Grus communis ; but I could, 

 of course, obtain no reliable information about them. Indeed an egg unidentified is worse than 

 useless to the ornithologist ; and unless the collector takes and identifies specimens himself, he 

 had better leave them alone. In the marismas of the Guadalquivir there is no doubt that in 

 former years the present species used frequently to breed. Specimens are often to be obtained 

 at Seville during March, April, and the early part of May, and again in August. Judging from 

 this, they must nest somewhere a little further north." According to Mr. Saunders it is by no 

 means rare, though less numerous than Grus communis, and leaves in April, not remaining to 

 breed in any part of Andalucia, beyond which province it is almost unknown; and Lord Lilford 

 writes to me as follows : — " I cannot speak with complete certainty of having seen this Crane in 

 Andalucia, though I have very little doubt on the subject. It occurs not uncommonly in the 

 marisma ; and I have received several specimens from the neighbourhood of Seville, where it is 

 sufficiently well known to have earned a local name; for it is there called Grulla moruna." 



In Italy the present species is but a rare straggler. Savi says that one is said to have been 

 killed in Tuscany in 1828; and Doderlein believes (judging from the description of the bird) 

 that one was obtained in 1833 by Signor Martines, a sportsman of Palermo ; but neither of these 

 specimens is now to be found for reference. Mr. C. A. Wright states (Ibis, 1864, p. 142) that 

 it is of accidental occurrence in Malta, where two or three examples are said to have been 

 obtained, the last recorded having been killed in March 1861. 



So far as I can ascertain, the Demoiselle Crane does not visit Southern Germany, and it 

 is only met with rarely in Greece during the two seasons of passage; but in the countries 

 skirting the Lower Danube it is quite a common summer resident, and breeds numerously in the 

 Dobrudscha, as also in the steppes of Southern Russia, being quite abundant near Sarepta, on 

 the Lower Volga. Dr. Kruper met with it, though early, in Asia Minor, and mentions that he 

 saw one near Burnabat in April 1863 ; and Lord Lilford informs me that he observed a small flock 



