162 
British Birds. 
It still nests in Holland, and in many places in Central and Southern Europe to 
Central Asia. The species breeds in the low-land marshes near the sea, whence it 
sallies out to procure its food on the mud flats ; this consists of small Crustacea and 
insects. In certain places it breeds in trees, but in marshy places the nest is 
composed of reeds. The eggs are four or five in number, chalky-white, with a few 
spots and streaks of reddish brown, and occasionally some underlying blotches of 
purplish-brown ; they measure from a little more than two-and-a-half to three inches. 
Cranes differ 
from Herons in hav- 
ing what is called 
a schizognathous or 
split palate, and the 
nasal groove ex- 
tends a long way 
down the bill, reach- 
ing to more than 
half the length of 
the latter. The Com- 
mon Crane is a dark 
grey bird, with a bare 
red crown ; the inner 
secondaries are 
loose and ornamen- 
tal, and form droop- 
ing plumes. The 
Cranes also differ 
The Common Crane. The Demoiselle Crane. from the Herons in 
their nestlings, 
which are not hatched naked and helpless, but are covered with down, and are able to 
shift for themselves in a few hours. Three hundred years ago the Crane used to breed 
in the fen-lands of England, and its fossil remains have been found in Ireland ; now it 
is only an occasional visitor. It breeds, however, in the marshes of the greater part of 
Europe, making a nest of a large size among the rushes in the swamps. The eggs are 
two or three in number, brown or stone-grey, with reddish spots and blotches, relieved 
by underlying spots of dull purplish grey ; their length is from three-and-a-half to four- 
and-a-quarter inches. The note of the Crane is clear and trumpet-like, and, as in some 
of the Swans, the trachea enters the bony walls of the breast-bone and is convoluted. 
THE 
COMMON CRANE. 
(Grus grus.) 
