54 
and steppes of Central Asia from the Ural to the Japanese sea between the 40th and 60th northern parallels. In this 
vast extent we find it mentioned by Bogdanow as occurring in the northern parts of the Aralo-Caspian region, in the 
steppes of the Irtysch, the Ichim, the Baraba, Russian Dsjungaria and the Tians-shan, Dauria and the Ussuri country. 
Pallas recorded its having been found on the Obi and on the Lena, without defining a more exact locality. Radde found 
it breeding in small numbers in Northern Mongolia. Pere David says it breeds in the Chinese province of Liau-tung, 
which borders Korea, and Prjevalsky met with a few breeding pairs in the neighbourhood of Lake Chanka. Schrenck 
found it on the Amoor near the mouth of the Gorin River. Severtzoff mentions it as perhaps breeding in Turkestan, but 
gives no actual proof of its doing so. 
The only description of the nesting of this species is that given by Pallas in 1773- He informs us that the nest 
is composed of grass and is placed amongst reeds and rushes, that the eggs, two in number are laid in May, and that 
the male defends its mate against dogs and enemies of all sorts. 
A pair of these birds bred in the Zoological Garden of Amsterdam. They constructed a large nest of straw, 
and both male and female sat on their two eggs for several weeks. Unfortunately nothing came of this attempt, the eggs 
proving unfertile. 
The White Crane is a migratory bird which leaves its breeding quarters in the north, probably towards the end 
of September or during the month of October. On their way to the south they were observed in large flocks by Radde 
near the Tarei-Nor, and by Prjevalsky in October on the Koko-Nor. They migrate in three directions. Some of them 
winter in the Lower Yangtse basin, according to Styan, and these are probably the birds which breed in Eastern Siberia, 
around Lake Hanka and in the Liau-tung province. Others, probably those from the centre of Asia, travel southwards 
through Thibet and Turkestan to the lakes of the Himalayas and from there to the of plains of North Western India, some¬ 
times even wandering as far south as the Central Provinces. A specimen is stated to have been killed at Koohee twenty 
miles south east of Kampti (near Nagpur) on February 3rd (21° N. lat.). 
An excellent account of the occurrence of this Crane in India is given by Hume in his work on the Game-birds 
of India, Burmah and Ceylon. He informs us that it begins to appear in the Himalayas about the middle of October, 
arriving a week later in the plains of North-western India. It has been observed at Oudh, in many parts of the North 
Western Provinces north-east of the Jumna, at Dehree on Soane, at the Najafgurh Lake south of Delhi, at Kurnal, at 
Hansi, in Northern Sindh west of the Indus and in Eastern Narra. It is rare in the extreme Eastern Punjab. Hume informs 
us it is a very water-loving bird when in India, and that the only places where it is to be found are in the ‘jhils’ or 
shallow lakes, and the marshes. “A broad straggling belt of Dhak [Btitea frondosa) jungle, some ten miles in width, at 
“one time doubtless continuous, but now much encroached upon and intersected in many places by cultivation, runs down 
“through nearly the whole of the “Doab”, marking, possibly, an ancient river-course. Just where the northern and southern 
“boundaries of the Etawah and Mynpoorie Districts lie within this belt, the latter encloses a number of large shallow ponds 
“or lakes (“jhils” as we call them), which covering from two hundred acres to many square miles of country each, at the 
“close of the rainy season, are many of them still somewhat imposing sheets of water early in January, and some few of 
“them of considerable extent even as late as the commencement of March.There will always be, at any particular 
“time, two or three “jhils”, that for the moment the Cranes particularly affect, and these are, as a rule, just those that 
“then happen to average about eighteen inches to two feet in depth, and that have a good deal of rush {Scirpus carinatti-s 
“amongst others) somewhere in the shallower parts.” 
“To this tract of country they make their way as early as the 25th October (and possibly sooner, though this is 
“the earliest date on which I have observed them), and there they remain at least as late as the end of March, or per- 
“haps a week or two longer. During the whole of our cold season they stay in this neighbourhood; and though growing 
“more and more wary (if possible) each time they are fired at, and disappearing for a day or two from any “jhil”, where 
“an attempt has been made to kill or capture them, they never seem to forsake the locality until the change of tempe- 
“rature warns them to retreat to their cool northern homes. Week after week I have noticed, and repeatedly fired at, 
“sometimes even slightly wounded, particular birds, which have nevertheless remained about the place their full time; nay, 
“I have now twice killed the young birds early in the season, and the parents, one by one, at intervals of nearly a 
“couple of months. 
“The Buhelias, a native caste of fowlers (and, I fear I must add, thieves), of whom there are many in the neigh- 
“bourhood, and who are keen observers of all wild animals, assure me that, as far back as any of them can remember 
“(namely, for at least the last fifty years), parties of the White Crane, or as they call them karekhurs^ have been in the 
“habit of yearly spending their winters in the same locality. Though occasionally in larger flocks, it is usual to find either 
“a pair of old ones accompanied by a single young one or small parties of five or six, which then, as far as I can judge, 
“consist exclusively of birds of the second year. The fully adult birds are, even when they first arrive, of a snowy white- 
“ness; and each pair is almost without exception accompanied by a single young one, which when first seen is of a sandy 
