Cranes, Etc., In Capfhv'fi/. 
171 
is sufficient provided (hat there are plenty of reeds and flags 
to afl'ord cover. Tlie banks of the pond should not be at all 
perpendicular, otherwise there is great risk of the young (they 
are very feeble, little things when first hatched) being drowned. 
Veri/ soft slimy mud is also apt to be a danger to the newly 
hatched chicks, which get bogged and suffocated, and a few 
piece.; of turf may with advantage be thrown on the worst 
and shallowest places. Cranes are devoted parents in many 
ways, but they have not the slightest idea of extricating their 
young when they have managed to get into difficulties. 
Earthworms form the principal food of young Cranes, 
and when the summer is not too dry, there is little danger 
of their dying except from accident. A prolonged drought, 
however, is a serious matter; the old birds cannot catch suffici- 
ent insects to keep their chicks alive when the latter are be- 
ginning to grow fast, and starvation is the result, for vege- 
table food is not eaten with any relish so long as the young 
are in the down. 
During the breeding season and often at other times. 
Crane; are very spiteful and quarrelsome amongst themselves, 
the Australian, Sarus, and Stanley being about tiie worst. The 
eggs deposited by the two last mentioned species, as well as 
by the White Asiatic Crane, are very often infertile, and if 
for two years they should fail to hatch, the best plan is to 
