COMMON CRANE. 



GRUS COMMUNIS, Bechst. 



Grus communis, Bechstein, Vog. Deutschl. iii. p. 60 (1793) ; 



Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 178; Dresser, vii. p. 337. 

 Ardea grus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 234 (1766). 

 Grus cinerea, Naum. ix. p. 345 ; Macg. iv. p. 20 ; Hewitson, 



ii. p. 308. 



Grue cendree, French ; Kranich, German ; Grulla, 

 Spanish. 



This fine species, which, from many ancient records, 

 appears to have bred pretty commonly in the marshy 

 districts of the three kingdoms well into the seventeenth 

 century, is now only an uncommon and irregular visitor 

 to our islands, generally appearing singly or in small 

 numbers in the autumn months. I have a most distinct 

 recollection of having, when a child, seen two immense 

 birds flying over Hyde Park corner, which filled me 

 with astonishment and curiosity ; and it was not till 

 some fifteen years later, when in Spain, I saw Cranes 

 on the wing, that I was able to identify, without the 

 slightest doubt, the birds that had so much excited my 

 youthful mind. Throughout the south of Europe at 

 the seasons of migration long strings of Cranes may be 

 often seen, and still more often heard, passing high in 

 air, and in February and March the great plains to the 

 south of Seville may generally be correctly called full of 



