MR. T. SOUTHWELL ON THE BREEDING OF THE CRANE. 1G7 
Previous to the discovery by the late Mr. John Wolley of the 
nesting haunts of the Crane in a marsh in Swedish Lapland, 
little appears to have been known as to the nesting of this bird by 
continental, and nothing whatever by British Zoologists ; the eggs 
said to be those of the Crane in collections here were without 
authentication, and strange as it may appear, in the case of a bird 
now known to breed in Spain, North Germany, Russia, and 
Scandinavia, we are indebted as already mentioned for the first 
authentic account of its nesting habits to Mr. Wolley, whose 
charming narrative of the event appeared in the first volume of 
the ‘Ibis’ (pp. 191 — 198), and which picturesque description 
cannot be read without a thrill of delight and of admiration for 
the true spirit of the naturalist displayed on the occasion. A 
perusal of the accounts given in books of an earlier date will, on 
comparison with Wolloy’s graphic description, show to what an 
extent they were due to their author’s imagination. 
It was on the 15th June, 1853, that Wolley entered the dreary 
Lapland marsh, and after a brief search discovered a nest containing 
tho remains of two eggs, which had recently been hatched, and saw 
in the distance a Crane ; soon another Crane was seen, and shortly 
aftor, for the first time for centuries,* an English naturalist looked 
upon two young Cranes in their first clothing of down. Here 
surely was an opportunity of acquiring a valuable “ specimen,” for 
the condition of tho young Crane on first leaving the egg was quite 
unknown, and had given rise to much speculation, as it would afford 
valuable aid in determining the true position of the genus which 
had generally been associated with the Herons — who could refrain 
from sacrificing the little one in the cause of science ! Listen to 
what follows : “ As I fondled one of them it began to peck playfully 
at my hands and legs, and when at length I rose to go away, it 
walked after me, taking me, as I supposed, for one of its long- 
legged parents. I had only just before been plucking from it some 
bits of down to keep, for valuable as I knew it to be in a natural 
history point of view, I could not make up my mind to take its 
life. As soon as I saw its intention to follow, I took to double-quick 
time and left it far behind As we went away I saw one 
of the Cranes alight where we had left the young one. Later in 
* It is possible that Dr. Turner may have had this experience — see below. 
