308 
GRUIDiE. 
GRALLATORES. 
GRUIDAE. 
CRANE. 
Grus cinerea. 
PLATE LXXXI. 
We should scarcely expect to find the eggs of the 
Crane so entirely different from those of all the other 
species which are most nearly allied to it in habit and 
in form. Whilst the eggs of all these species, with the 
exception of those of the spoonbill, are either pure white 
or slightly tinted with colour, but always spotless, those 
of the Crane are, on the contrary, richly coloured, and 
very nearly resemble the eggs of the larger species of 
sea-gulls. 
Dr. Thieneman says that the Crane makes its nest 
either upon a willow, or some other low bush, — or 
upon a large quantity of rushes, or other water-plants, 
in the midst of high grass or reeds; that the nest is 
difficult to find, owing to its being almost always sur¬ 
rounded by bog or water, and to the precaution adopted 
by the bird, which on y leaving it, does so in a stooping 
position, often creeping along for a great distance, before 
it becomes visible by flight. 
The Crane, like the stork, makes a large and bulky nest 
of sticks, dried grass, and other soft materials; like it too 
(so Mr. Yarrell tells us) it sometimes elevates its nest on 
die top of some old building. It lays two eggs. 
