18 THE SNOW-WREATH OR SIBERIAN CRANE. 
little above the knees show close to the hind legs; and, as far 
as possible, you always keep the beast up to his belly in water. 
Thus covered you slowly sidle up towards the Cranes, making 
the buffalo, now put his head up, nose in air, now stop and 
lower his head to the water, and generally dawdle and meander 
about with apparently no fixed idea in his head, according to 
the natural manners and customs of a free and independent 
buffalo. With a little practice it is easy thus to get within 
shot. You softly let the cheek string go, and at once fire below 
the buffalo’s neck. Before your gun is well off, your sporting 
companion, who has a marked distrust of Europeans and white 
faces, and has been incessantly endeavouring to kick you 
throughout your whole promenade, knocks you head over 
heels, and rushes off towards his dusky owner, bellowing as if 
he, and not you, were the injured party. This is first-rate sport ; 
but, after trying it once or twice, nearly catching my death of 
cold, losing a powder flask, and realizing a stock-in-trade of 
bruises enough to last the rest of my natural life, I have prefer- 
red sitting quietly on the bank and allowing my native coad- 
jutors to shoot the birds I wanted. 
When shot they were worth nothing as food, which, consi- 
dering their purely vegetable diet, is surprising. 
I ought not to omit to notice that, out of more than twenty 
specimens of the White Crane that I have procured (between 
October and the middle of March), none had the tertials at all 
conspicuously elongated ; and in no instance did these, when 
the wings were closed, exceed the tail feathers or longest pri- 
maries (which usually reach just to the end of the tail) by more 
than 3 inches. It is possible that at the breeding season the 
tertials may be such more developed ; but such is not the case 
with the Sarus, nor, I fancy (to judge from the magnificent 
trains of plumes with which we here shoot them in the spring,) 
with the Common Crane. 
The feathers of the hind head and nape are somewhat length- 
ened, so as to form a full and broad, though short, subcrest, 
very noticeable when a wounded bird is defending itself against 
dogs or other assailants. It isa brave bird, and fights to the 
last, striking out powerfully, at times with bill, legs, and wings, 
but most generally defending itself chiefly with its bill, with 
which it inflicts, occasionally, almost serious wounds. 
NOTHING absolutely seems as yet to be known of its 
nidification. 
IN THIS species also the males are considerably larger than 
the females. 
Males.—Length, 52 to 56; expanse, 90 to 99°5; wing, 23 to 26; 
tail from vent, 8:0 to 9°5.; tarsus I1°0 to 12:0; bill from gape, 
7°75 to 8'0; weight, 16 Ibs to 19 Ibs. 
