161 
COMMON CKAXE. 
The latter is said to he in marshes, by the sides of 
lakes or rivers, -where the vegetation is dense, and a 
love for elevated situations is also ascribed to it. 
The structure of the trachea is somewhat similar to 
that observed in some of the Natatores , the swan 
for instance, and in several of the Rasores ; it per- 
forms extensive convolutions in the sternum as it 
advances in age, occupying nearly the whole of its 
internal space. 
The crown of the head exhibits a naked oval 
space, of a bluish or livid colour, we believe, in the 
living bird, thickly scattered over with black hairs, 
or rather hair-like plumes ; immediately succeeding 
this, the feathers on the occiput are brocoli-brown ; 
the chin, and fore parts of the neck, ending in a 
point on the breast, are of the same colour ; all the 
general plumage is ash-grey, slightly paler beneath ; 
the bastard and primary quills, secondaries, and 
tertials, are black ; a portion of the secondaries and 
tertials being elongated, assume a curved form, have 
the webs disunited, and droop gracefully over the 
ends of the wings and sides, in the form of the 
curved feathers in the tail of the domestic cock. 
The tail is blackish-grey, short in comparison with 
the size of the bird ; the under coverts reaching in 
length to its extremity ; the legs and feet black. 
In the female the development of the long plumes 
is less, and the colours of the plumage scarcely so 
clear. The young want the dark colour on the 
neck and occiput, and have the plumage more 
tinted with brown. 
