24 
GRUS AMERICANA. 
derive their name. When wounded, they attack the 
gunner, or his dog*, with great resolution ; and have 
been known to drive their sharp and formidable bill, at 
one stroke through a man’s hand. 
During winter, they are frequently seen in the low 
grounds and rice plantations of the Southern States, in 
search of grain and insects. On the 10th of February, 
I met with several near the Waccamau river, in South 
Carolina ; I also saw’ a flock at the ponds near Louisville, 
Kentucky, on the 20th of March. They are extremely 
shy and vigilant, so that it is with the greatest 
difficulty they can be shot. They sometimes rise in the 
air spirally to a great height, the mingled noise of 
their screaming, even w hen they are almost beyond the 
reach of sight, resembling that of a pack of hounds in 
full cry. On these occasions, they fly around in large 
circles, as if reconnoitring the country to a vast extent 
for a fresh quarter to feed in. Their flesh is said to be 
well tasted, nowise savouring of fish. They sw r allow 
mice, moles, rats, &c. with great avidity. They build 
their nests on the ground, in tussocks of long grass, 
amidst solitary swamps, raise it to more than a foot 
in height, and lay two pale blue eggs, spotted with 
brown. These are much larger, and of a more lengthened 
form than those of the common hen. 
The cranes are distinguished from the other families 
of their genus by the comparative baldness of their 
heads, the broad flag of plumage projecting over the 
tail, and in general by their superior size. They also 
differ in their internal organization from ail the rest of 
the heron trihe, particularly in the conformation of the 
windpipe, which enters the breast-bone in a cavity 
fitted to receive it, and after several turns goes out 
again at the same place, and thence descends to the 
lungs. Unlike the herons, they have not the inner 
side of the middle claw r pectinated, and, in this species 
at least, the hind toe is short, scarcely reaching the 
ground. 
The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a 
crane very much resembling the present, with thq 
