CRANES. 
465 
spot, now falls along an open sandy reach, swaying meanwhile to the right or left. 
As iu passes on, the individual birds are blended in the hazy distance, till, just 
before lost to view, the line becomes like an immense serpent gliding mysteriously 
through the air. \\ hen about to alight, fearful lest the shadows of the woods 
harbour unseen dangers, the 
cranes pass by the leafy in¬ 
tricacies where the ibises and 
other less suspicious birds feed, 
and choose a spot for the 
advantages it may offer of 
uninterrupted vision. By nature 
one of the most wary and 
discreet of birds, his experience 
has taught the crane to value 
this gift and put it to the best 
use. His vigilance is rarely 
relaxed, even when he is feeding, 
where less thoughtful birds 
would feel perfectly secure.” 
This wariness renders the crane 
an exceedingly difficult bird to 
shoot; although the flocks fre¬ 
quenting the sandbanks of the 
Indian rivers may be readily 
approached in a boat, to the 
passing of which they are in¬ 
different. Cranes feed regularly in the early morning, and also at other times in 
the day, and at night; while the vast quantity of grain a flock will consume, 
renders their visits by no means welcome to the cultivator. In sleeping, 
they invariably stand upon one leg, with the head and neck thrust in among the 
plumage of the back. In the bogs of Lapland the crane breeds in vast numbers; 
the nest being made of small twigs intertwined with long, sedgy grass, its diameter 
being about 2 feet, and its depth several inches. 
The sarus crane (G. antiqone) of India, which attains a length 
Sarus Crane. . ; . 'r ' ® 
of 52 inches, together with the nearly allied Australian crane 
( G . australiaca), represent a second group of the genus, characterised by the longer 
beak, and by the head and neck being bare and covered for 3 or 4 inches with 
numerous crimson warts, from which grow a few scanty black hairs, most 
developed down the nape. Below this the neck is whitish grey, passing gradually 
into the blue-grey of the rest of the plumage, save the quills and inner webs of 
the tail-feathers, which are dusky slaty. In old birds, however, the elongated 
feathers become nearly white. The sarus is probably confined to India and Upper 
Burma, where it is always found in the neighbourhood of water, and is less 
gregarious than the common species, being generally seen in pairs. It is also far 
less of a grain-eating bird; while, except when driven by drought, it does not 
migrate. It is likewise tame and confiding, and so attached are the members of a 
VOL. iv .—30 
COMMON CRANE. 
