534 
THE CRANE. 
single specimen may be seen there at very long and increasing intervals. In some countries 
the popular name of the heron is the Crane, so that the occasional reports published here 
respecting the Crane, which sometimes find admission into newspapers, have often reference, 
not to that bird, but to the heron. 
The Crane is found in various parts of the continent of Europe, migrating from place to 
place, and flying in large flocks at a great elevation in the air. They continue their aerial 
journeys for great distances, and seldom descend but for the purpose of feeding. When they 
alight, it is generally on marshy ground, the banks of rivers, or the coasts of the sea, where 
they can find a bountiful supply of marine and aquatic animals ; and sometimes they are 
attracted by a field of newly-sown corn, among which they make sad havoc, stocking up the 
seed with their long bills, or eating the newly-sprouted blades. The food of the Crane is 
CAIUAMA — Dicholophus cristatus. 
various, mostly consisting of worms, slugs, frogs, lizards, newts, and similar creatures ; but 
the bird will often feed upon grain and the leaves of different plants. 
The voice of the Crane is loud, resonant, and trumpet-like, and has a singular effect, when 
heard from the great elevation at which the bird prefers to fly. The peculiar resonance of the 
note is caused by a remarkable structure of the windpipe, which is elongated, and instead of 
running straight down the neck, passes into the breast-bone, lodges between the two plates of 
bone which form the keel, and, after making some contortions which vary according to the age 
of the bird, leaves the breast-bone and proceeds as usual to the lungs. 
The Crane makes its nest mostly on marshy ground, placing it among osiers, reeds, or the 
heavy vegetation which generally flourishes in such localities. Sometimes, however, it prefers 
more elevated situations, and will make its nest on the summit of an old deserted ruin. The 
eggs are two in number, and their color is light olive, covered with dashes of a deeper hue and 
brown. The well-known plumes of the Crane are the elongated tertials, with their long droop- 
ing loose webs, which, when on the wings of the bird, reach beyond the primaries. 
