IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 313 



plumage ashy grey ; quills black ; the tertiaries elongated and drooping ; 

 bill greenish at the base, yellowish in the middle, and pinkish at the 

 tip (the latter is not always very distinct) ; irides coral red. 



Hab< — Southern and South-Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, 

 Asia Minor, countries about the Caspian, Eastern Turkestan, Afghan- 

 istan, Southern and North Eastern Siberia, Dauria, Mongolia, and 

 Western China. It is a cold weather visitant to India, and is found 

 during the winter in the western parts of Southern India, Central 

 Provinces, the North-West Provinces, Behar, in the sub-montane 

 districts of Bengal and Assam. 



Length of life in captivity. 



It bears captivity remarkably well, as some of them have been 

 living for a number of years. 



(325) THE BALEAEIC CEANE. 

 (BALEARICA PAVONINA-(Zi^.)) 



Description. — Forehead velvety black ; crown of the head adorned 

 with a large tuft of wire-like bristles of variegated colour ; general colour 

 of the upper plumage, including the hackle-like plumes, ashy grey ; 

 chin black ; beneath and behind the eye a large bare red patch ; the 

 exposed parts of the wings white, the inner red; some reddish brown 

 loose plumes cover the lower parts of the wing ; under surface grey. 



Had. — West Africa. 



Length of life in captivity. 

 Specimen living since 1883. 



(326) THE CAPE CEOWNED CEANE. 



(BALEARICA CHRYS OPEL ARGUS— (Licht.) ) 



In this species the bare patch beneath and behind the eye is 

 white. 



Rob. — West Africa. 



Treatment in health. 



Homing. — Properly speaking, cranes require no housing; they 

 enjoy nothing better than being kept loose in a garden, with freedom 

 to roam about as they like ; but this mode of keeping does not answer 

 in a public garden where hundreds of visitors daily resort. The next best 

 accommodation for them is a large enclosure with a tank, so that they 

 may have ready access to water. The crowned cranes have been found 

 doing well in enclosures without a tank : the saras, snow-wreath, and 

 the demoiselle cranes require no particular protection from rain, while 

 the success which has hitherto attended the keeping of the crowned 

 cranes is mainly due to the scrupulous care with which they have been 



