them. A few pairs remain to breed in Andalucia, but 

 the principal breeding-quarters of the Crane in Europe 

 are the great morasses of the far north; for a most 

 fascinating account of the haunts and nesting-habits of 

 our bird in Lapland, I must refer my readers to the 

 ' Ibis' of 1859, in which the late Mr. John Wolley gave 

 us the result of his researches in an article that must 

 remain "a joy for ever" to all ornithologists. The only 

 Crane's nest that I ever saw was empty, situated in a 

 half-dry overgrown watercourse in the open marisma of 

 the Guadalquivir, composed of a mass of freshwater 

 plants, and conspicuous to every passer-by. The eggs, 

 generally two in number, are of a dull olive colour, with 

 blotches and spots of rusty brown. The favourite food 

 of the Crane consists of the roots of corn and various 

 grasses, but almost any grain is also eagerly devoured. 

 In Spain it seemed to me that these birds frequented 

 the cultivated lands during the daytime, and resorted to 

 the marshes at night ; they are very wary and difficult 

 of approach by day, but many may be obtained at 

 "flighting time" as they change their quarters. In my 

 opinion the flesh of a young Crane is most excellent, 

 and an old one may be made into very good provend 

 by skilled culinary treatment. In captivity our bird is 

 delightful from its tameness and the quaint antics and 

 attitudes that it assumes, and its loud trumpet-like cries 

 are by no means unpleasant. If one of a captive pair 

 of Cranes dies, the distress of the survivor is most 

 touching to witness, and from my own experience of 

 many birds in confinement I am inclined to attribute 

 the palm of affectionate social instinct to the present 

 species. 



