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“appear to be most gentle, loving creatures. Thej^ rise from the ground after taking a run of some yards before getting 
“on the wing, the heavy strokes of their powerful pinions resounding. Once on the wing their flight is very strong, and 
“is continued often for several miles, but they never, so far as my experience goes fly at any great height above the 
“ground. I observed a pair that every day flew through a distance of about 5 miles backwards and forwards to a piece 
“of water but never rose above t\venty yards from the ground. I do not think that they ever in India rise high in the 
“air and circle around as other Cranes do. They seldom fly except when it is absolutely necessary and I saw them 
“walking a couple of miles over a grassy meadow to a piece of water. If there are trees or cover on their way they 
“fly, probably because they do not feel certain that some enemy may not be lurking behind them. Their call is very 
“ loud and sonorous, they always call when alarmed and at night when the darkness hides them from each other, to 
“ make sure that their mates are there. They feed on frogs, lizards, small reptiles, insects, snails, and other land and 
“water shells, seeds, grains and small fruits of various kinds, green vegetable matter and bulbous roots of various species 
“of aquatic plants”. 
The Collared Crane breeds in India in the rainy season, beginning to make its nest at the end of June, and 
laying its eggs in the same month, also in July, August and September. Irby found eggs in Oudh in the month of June, 
Capt. G. F. L. Marshall took eggs near Bolundshahr on the 25th July, in the Muttra district on the 29th August, and 
in the Aligurh district on the 8th September, whil-st Adam found eggs on the 23rd August near Sambhur Lake in Raj- 
putana. The breeding as late as September must be considered as unusual, and generally due to the birds having been 
deprived of their first clutch. These birds pair for life and, like most Cranes at that period, are very interesting when 
courting. The pair go through the most wonderful performances of jumping, dancing, and bowing. Hume informs us that 
the nest is constructed “on some firm spot in the midst of the largest jhil or swamp that they can find, not always on 
“an island, for they often build on sites completely overflown, but on some spot that would be an island if the water 
“fell eight or ten inches. The nest is a huge heap, a broad truncated cone, composed of reeds and rushes and straw, 
“varying much in size according to situation and circumstances. At the top it is about 2 feet in diameter with a central 
“depression, from four to eight inches deep, for the eggs. If, as is commonly the case, the nest is placed in water the 
“bottom of the egg-cavity will be from eight to twelve inches above the surface of the water, and with from three inches 
“to two feet of nest below the water. On more than one occasion when in sudden and heavy falls such as we get in 
“India, six and eight inches of rain falling within twelve hours, the jhils were rising very rapidly, I have seen the birds 
“very busy raising their nests. One nest that had been raised I measured a couple of months later, when the ground 
“on which it stood was dry and found it to be fully nine feet in diameter at the base and three feet in height and it 
“must have lost at least a foot by settling. When built on land surrounded but not overflowed with water, the nest is 
“a much less pretentions affair perhaps 5 feet in diameter at the base and a foot only in height. Occasionally apparently 
“where they could not get a large enough piece of water to secure as they considered their safety, I have found them 
“seeking this in concealment. As a rule the nest is out in the open, visible from all directions at a miles distance. In 
“the few cases to which I refer I have found it in dense beds of bulrush and reed so lofty that even when standing on 
“its nest the bird was only to be seen by climbing a neighbouring tree. In these cases the rushes and reeds, where they 
“were thickest had been bent down across and across so as ,to form a platform five or six feet in diameter and on this 
“a comparatively slight nest had been constructed. 
“Two is certainly the normal number of eggs, but I have twice (out of more than a hundred nests) found three 
“and I have occasionally seen three young birds in company with an old pair. 
“I remember one day, as I was coming home from Rahun, I saw in a sheet of rain water some distance off the 
“road a Sarus sitting on her nest and the male standing beside her. I rode as near the place as I could and then sent 
“my syce to get the eggs. As he commenced wading towards the nest the male began to dance about, flapping his 
“wings and trumpeting most bravely; but when the man had got within a few yards and landed safely on the patch of 
“dry ground on which the nest rested, the male put his head down and ran off very crestfallen to a ridge in the water 
“some fifty yards distant, whence he began with loud cries to encourage his lady not to allow ‘that black rascal’ to take 
“any liberties. She sat quite still, neither moved nor cried, only as the man came close to her made such vigorous pokes 
“and drives at him that he got frightened and was picking up a great dry branch to strike her with, when T called out 
“to him to flap her in the face with his waist cloth. This he did vigorously, and this being more than she could endure 
“she reluctantly crept off the nest, now complaining loudly, and joined the male. There was only one egg; this the man 
“brought, but before he could reach me the female had regained the nest, and after minutely examining it and making 
“certain the egg was gone, she stood up on the top and with bill, legs and feet commenced throwing the straw about 
“in the air in the most furious manner as if beside herself with rage. Then the male came up trumpeting vigorously, but 
“directly he came near she flew at him and he scrambled off half running, half flapping through the water and making 
“more noise than ever. By this time I had received the egg, and found the point of the young one’s bill protruding, so 
