80 
THE COMMON CRANE. 
is commenced, except the Colunhidoe, or Doves, to which a 
chapter is specially devoted at the conclusion of the 
volume. 
The Cranes and Bustards represent in this country, with 
two other species presently to be noticed, the Cursores^ or 
Eunners, some of them being not at all common with us. They 
all feed on insects and worms, with occasional vegetable 
substances, and nestle on the ground, laying from three to 
five eggs. The males are larger than the females, with 
plumage sometimes differently coloured. Many of the 
species are migratory, those which in the summer reside 
in the cold or temperate region, moving southward in 
autumn. 
The Grey or Common Crane, called by Linnaeus Ai^dea 
GruSy by Macgillivray Grus Cinerea^ is the only one of the 
Crane family which visits Britain, where it is of rare occur- 
rence, not so many as a dozen individuals having been killed 
here within the last forty years, although the bird is said 
formerly to have bred in the fenny districts. The prevailing 
colour of the plumage is ash grey ; the crown of the head 
is bare and red, and there is a band of dull white from each 
eye down the side of the neck. A specimen of * this occa-» 
CRANE. 
