THE CRANE. 
Lin. Sjst. i. p. 23 4. 4. 
Bris. Orn. v. p. 37 5 . 6. 
Buff. Ois. vii. p . 2 87. 
Lath . iii. p. l. 4 0 . 
The Crane, originally a native of the north, visits all the temperate cli- 
mates ; it formerly bred in England, as we find in Willoughby there was 
a penalty of twenty -pence for destroying an egg of this bird; and they like- 
wise spent the winter here, frequenting the fens of Lincolnshire and Cam- 
bridgeshire in great flocks • At present the inhabitants of those counties 
are unacquainted with them, as of late none have been seen, except a single 
bird shot a few years since near Cambridge ; we therefore suppose these 
birds to have forsaken our island, though no reason has been given for it, 
as no diminution in the species has been observed, and Linnaeus assures us 
they are as numerous as ever in Sweden. 
It is a large stately bird, measuring upwards of five feet, it has an erect, 
slender, and elegant form, walking with slow and measured steps. 
The top of the head is covered with dusky down, sprinkled with hairs 
or bristles, the hind head bald and red, with a few hairs. On each side is 
a broad white line the length of the neck, the fore part of which is a deep 
slate colour approaching to black, as far as the breast ; the greater wing co- 
verts, and those farthest from the body are tipped with dusky brown; the 
bastard wings and quills black ; the rest of the plumage a most delicate ash 
colour: from the pinion of each wing springs an elegant tuft of loose fea- 
thers curled at the ends, which the bird can erect or depress at pleasure, 
but which in a quiescent state hang over and cover the tail. These feathers 
were formerly held in high estimation, being set in gold, and worn as orna- 
ments in caps. 
Such is its astonishing power of wing, that in migrating they frequently 
soar so hicrh as not to be visible. — Linnaeus asserts, at the height of 3 miles. 
o 
Ardea Grus. 
Grus. 
La Grue. 
Common Crane. 
