360 



Lake Barbantzak. According to Professor von Nordmann this Crane frequently occurs in the 

 Ekaterinburg Government, and is met with regularly on the spring passage. Beyond these I 

 find no record of its occurrence in Europe ; but it appears to be widely distributed in Asia, 

 breeding in the north central portions, and migrating down into India and Northern China in 

 winter. Dr. Jerdon states (B. of India, ii. p. 664) that it is a rare winter visitant to several 

 parts of North-western India, and has been occasionally observed by sportsmen in the Punjab, 

 Rajasthan, and in the interior of the Himalayas. Dr. Severtzoff records it as occurring rarely 

 on passage, and perhaps breeding in Turkestan ; and Pallas says that it occurs throughout 

 Siberia, and that it was seen by him on the Lena and in Dauria. Von Schrenck believes that 

 he saw it on several occasions in the Amoor country, but never succeeded in shooting one ; and 

 Dr. Badde says that it is rather rare in North-east Mongolia, but breeds there. He met with it 

 near the Uldsa river, where it arrived on the 11th (23rd) April. Above the Bureja Mountains 

 he saw it on the plains as early as the 24th March. In the autumn he saw two large flocks 

 migrating on the 20th August on the Tarei-nor. He did not observe it in the Eastern Sajan and 

 Lake Baikal. 



Pere David says that it occurs in Mantchuria and in Northern China, but it is very rare in 

 the latter country; and Colonel Prjevalsky writes, in his article on the birds of Mongolia (in 

 Rowley's Orn. Misc.), that he only saw a flock of some fifty individuals (on the 9th of October 

 1872) near Koko-nor ; and he adds that " in the neighbourhood of Lake Hanka it arrives towards 

 the end of March in small flocks of from four to ten individuals, and is not common there, this 

 being especially the case in summer, as but few remain to breed in that locality. Its voice is 

 very harmonious." It is also found in Japan ; but whether commonly or not I am unable to say 

 with certainty. 



Comparatively speaking, but little has been written on the habits of this bird ; and I am 

 therefore glad to be able to avail myself of an an excellent article by Mr. A. O. Hume (Ibis, 

 1868, pp. 28-40) on the subject. This gentleman writes (torn. cit. p. 28) as follows: — "Sixteen 

 years have now elapsed since I first shot one in Ladakh (in the Himalayas). This was in 

 October : and the birds were doubtless then on their way to the plains of India. They arrived 

 at the lake near Ley, close to which I was encamped, towards nightfall ; and though, after I 

 had fired at them and secured a specimen, they again settled at some distance, they took their 

 departure next morning before noon without being further molested. At the time I was unfor- 

 tunately too much of a mere sportsman and too little of a naturalist to take much note of a bird 

 which had nothing gamelike in its plumage, and which proved unfit for the table. 



" Years passed away, during which (gun in hand though I always was when I could spare 

 the time or could get leave) I never once met with a single specimen of the bird. Soon after 

 the mutiny, however, in 1859, 1 succeeded in shooting one out of a flock of some five-and-twenty, 

 which I found in a large 'jheel' or shallow rain-water lake, in the north of the Etawah district, 

 about halfway between Agra and Cawnpore. 



"During the winters of 1865-66 and 1866-67 I have procured and preserved a number of 

 specimens in the same neighbourhood, and have had many opportunities of watching them pretty 

 closely. 



" They are very probably found during the cold weather in suitable localities throughout 



