THE COMMON CRANE. 823 



of tarsus. Inner secondaries much. elongated, longer than to tips of 

 primaries. Sexes alike in colour. Head and neck fully feathered 

 in young birds. No powder-down patches. Sternum peculiar, 

 having a hollow groove in which lies the windpipe, which is quite 

 differently shaped in the various species. The genus is often, and 

 generally inconsistently, split up into several genera, according to 

 shape and extent of bare parts on head and neck ; these, however, 

 only visible in adults, are not good generic characters, and the 

 genus may be taken as consisting of 11 species, 8 of which are 

 Palsearctic. Nests on ground. 



MEGALORNIS GRUS 



476. Megalornis grus grus (L.).— THE COMMON CRANE. 



Aedea Grus Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 141 (1758 — Europe, Africa. 



Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Grus communis Bechstein, Yarrell, in, p. 178 ; Saunders, p. 521. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Lores, fore-head 

 and crown thinly covered (especially sparse on back of crown, skin 

 of which is red) with black bristle-like plumes ; back of head and 

 nape, chin and whole throat blackish -grey ; sides of head from eye 

 through ear-coverts and down back of neck nearly to base white 

 or greyish-white ; rest of upper-parts and under-parts including 



The Common Crane {Megalornis <j. grits). 



-axillaries and under wing-coverts slate-grey tinged brown and tips 

 of feathers when worn becoming dark brown and those of some 

 scapulars sometimes blackish ; edges of upper tail-coverts blackish ; 

 tips of tail-feathers blackish, bases slate-grey ; primaries and 

 primary-coverts black, tinged grey at extreme bases ; secondaries 

 slate-grey with tips black extending further on outer webs, long, 

 curved, pointed inner ones with black tips extending in wedge- 

 shape ; wing-coverts slate-grey, usually rather paler than upper- 

 parts, greater with black tips chiefly of inner webs, innermost 

 greater much elongated, rami separated, curved and drooping 

 except centre of tip which is black with rami close and normal. 

 This plumage is acquired by complete moult July-Oct. Summer. — 



