80 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



In the latter family are not only comprehended the storks and the herons, but also the spoonbills, the 

 ibis, and several other groupes, remarkable as well for the singularity of their forms, as for the pecu- 

 liarity of their manners, and the interesting nature of many of the facts connected with this history, 

 both as regards themselves, and with reference to the services which they actually render to mankind." 



The common cranes are seen in numerous flocks in all the northern parts of Europe. They make 

 their nests in marshes, and Jay two bluish eggs : they feed on reptiles of all kinds, and on some species 

 of vegetables. "While corn is green, they are said to make such havoc in the fields as to ruin the 

 farmers wherever the flocks alight. 



They are migratory, returning northward in the spring, where they generally make choice of the 

 places which they occupied during the preceding season, and in the winter inhabiting the warmer 

 regions of Egypt and India. They fly very high, and arrange themselves in the form of a triangle, 

 the better to cleave the air. When the wind freshens, and threatens to break their ranks, they collect 

 their force into a circle, and they adopt the same disposition when attacked by powerful birds of prey. 

 These migratory voyages are chiefly performed in the night ; but their loud screams betray their course. 

 During these nocturnal expeditions, the leader frequently calls, in order to rally his forces and to 

 point out the track, and the cry is repeated by the flock, each answering, to give notice that it follows 

 and keeps its rank. The flight of the crane is always supported uniformly, though it is marked by 

 different inflections, and these variations have been observed to indicate a change of weather. The 

 cries of these birds during the day forebode rain ; and their noisy and tumultuous screams announce a 

 storm. If in the morning or evening they rise upwards, and fly peacefully in a body, it is a sign of 

 fine weather ; but if they keep low, or alight on the ground, they menace a tempest. The crane 

 seems to have considerable difficulty in commencing its flight. It runs a few paces, opens its wings, 

 mounts a little way, and then having a clear space, it displays its vigorous and rapid pinions. 



When the cranes are assembled on the ground they are said to set guards during the night; and 

 the circumspection of these birds has ever been consecrated in ancient hieroglyphics as a symbol o^ 

 vigilance. 



Ivolben relates that cranes are often observed in large flocks in the marshes about the Cape of Good 

 Hope. He says he never saw a flock of them on the ground which had not some birds placed, 

 apparently as sentinels on watch, while the others were feeding. These sentinels stand on one leg, and 

 at intervals stretch out their necks, as if to observe that all is safe. "When notice of danger is given, the 

 whole flock rise on wing and fly away. Kolben goes so far as to assert, that in the night-time each of 

 the watching cranes " holds in its right claw a stone of considerable weight, in order that if overcome 

 by sleep, the falling of the stone may awaken it." 



Cranes are seen in France in the spring and autumn ; but they are for the most part merely 

 passengers. It is on record that they formerly visited the marshes of Lincolnshire and Cambridge- 

 shire in vast flocks, but none have of late been met with there. 



