6 
the mountains over which the larger flocks of birds regularly passed. They also mention a high mountain plain between 
the villages of Giinterod and Harterod in the same district, over which the Cranes travel annually, and which they often 
use as a resting place. When alighting they are said to describe huge spiral lines, and to ascend to their usual height 
of travelling in the same way when they depart. Once at the proper height they usually assume in their flight the form 
of a the side of the figure towards the wind being generally much shorter than the other, whilst often a third or 
more limbs are added to the figure, if the flock is very numerous. They are observed to migrate as well during the day 
as during the night and the clearer the weather the higher the cranes fly, whilst thej^ only travel in the direction of the 
wind and never against it. The same observers mention the Island of Riigen as a place of rendez-vous for the Cranes 
before their departure. 
Mr. E. C. Taylor mentions large flocks of Cranes in September and October on the banks of the Danube on both 
Roumanian and Bulgarian banks, which were evidently on their way to the south. Radde saw Cranes flying over the Caucasus 
at an altitude of 14,000 feet, and found them in the market at Tiflis brought there from the banks of the Chram river 
between the 25th November and the 7th December, whilst he saw a flock of 150 birds on the 20th August 1874 near 
Kopriko on the Araxes, which left for the south shortly after. More to the south Lord Lilford saw them pass over Corfu 
in the month of October, whilst they have also been observed passing over Italy and Spain. Once across the Medi¬ 
terranean the Cranes may be said to have arrived in their proper winter quarters. Mess^'® Reid and Drake observed them 
in winter in Morocco in small flocks and Canon Tristram met with them in Algeria, while Adams found them in large 
flocks in Lower Egypt. Von Heuglin saw Cranes arrive in Egypt and Nubia, commencing at the end of August. Flocks 
were seen following the valley of the Nile, resting at midday and during the night on its banks and on the islands in 
the midst of the stream, and feeding in the morning and in the evening in the fields of the neighbourhood. The Cranes 
also winter in some parts of Portugal (Tait, Ibis 1887 p. 383), in the South of Spain, where Saunders found them near 
Seville on the 19th of February, and in other suitable places on the European side of the Mediterranean. Canon Tris¬ 
tram found that large flocks spend the winter in the open plains and downs of Southern Judea. They roost near Moladak, 
south-west of the Dead Sea and at another place south-east of Gaza. They arrive at sunset, being very noisy till 
morning, whilst during the whole night fresh flocks come to swell their ranks. The roosting place at Moladak was a group 
of hillocks extending over several acres and thickly covered with the mutings of the birds, as thickly as the resorts of 
any seafowl. In February the Cranes begin to leave their winter-quarters in Africa, travelling slowly northwards, 
apparently regulating their speed according to circumstances. In Tiflis the first flocks were observed passing northwards 
in the beginning of March. Lord Lilford saw them pass over Cyprus in the last half of April, and observed them in 
March at Corfu. GiglioH mentions them flying northwards over Pisa in March. Saunders saw them cross the Pyrenees 
towards the end of February and in March, whilst Seebohm mentions them as still travelling northwards over Ust Zylma 
on the 2ist May, and over the Lower Petchora as late as the 25th of that month. 
The Asiatic Cranes quit their breeding quarters at about the same time as those inhabiting Europe. Radde noticed 
them leaving the Tarei Lake, in latitude 50°, on the 26th August, and saw flocks travelling in south and south-western 
directions over the Bureja Mountains on the 25th August and the 2nd September. Prjevalsky in the middle of September 
saw flocks passing the Ala-shan range, which, when tired out and not finding a suitable resting place, settled down on 
the sand in order to pass the night there, and to proceed on their journey next morning. In Kansu only one flock was 
seen on the i6th September 1872. Prjevalsky specially notes that when camped on the river Tesunga, his tent being 
pitched at a height of 10,600 feet, the birds were flying over at such an enormous altitude that they could hardly be 
seen. Pere David saw the Common Crane pass over the Pekin plains in September. 
Some Cranes winter on the lower Yang-tse basin near Swatow, and others in the plains of the island of Hainan, 
the greater number, however, pass over the Himalayas and winter in India. In India they spread over the greater part 
of the continent, keeping along the rivers and in the swampy plains, but not usually or numerously passing much to the 
south of the 20th parallel, although they have been recorded from Travancore by Major Campbell. 
In Hume and Marshall’s „ Game-birds of India” we find the Common Crane recorded as met with in the Nizam’s 
dominions, Khandesh, Bera, the Central Provinces, Guzerat, Central India, Cutch, Kathiawar, Sindh, Rajputana, the 
North West Provinces, Oudh, Punjab, the tributary Mahals, Chota Nagpur, Western Bengal, Behar, Sikkim, Terai 
and the Douars, and over the whole of the Assam valley. 
In Upper India and Nepal, Cranes are met with in the first days of October, but in Sind they have been ob¬ 
served as early as August. Like their brethren, that winter in North Africa and along the Nile, these Cranes sleep and 
roost near the water, going inland to feed on the fields. In the Punjab and in Rajputana, where they are not much 
shot at, they may be approached, it is said, by putting a native blanket over one’s head, to within 60 or 70 yards, 
and by walking on as if one meant to pass them. Without this precaution, and everywhere else when they have reason 
to fear man, they are extremely difficult to approach. 
