on the other hand, merely scrape a hole in marshy ground, on dry plains, among standing corn or grass, or on sandy beaches, while occasionally reed-beds are selected. The eggs, two, or rarely three in number, are generally creamy white, olive-brown or buff, with reddish-brown, red, or purplish-grey spots and blotches; those of the Indian Sarus Cranes have a bluish- or greenish-white ground, while those of the Crowned Cranes are not uncommonly plain bluish-white. The male is said to incubate in some cases, and both parents tend the young carefully for a considerable time, though the latter run from the shell; the female sits with her head drawn in upon her shoulders, and is usually loth to leave her charge. When wounded these birds are very dangerous, fighting boldly with bill and wings. They are very palatable when fed on grain, the breast in particular {254}resembling beef-steak. Cranes are easily domesticated, and, in certain districts of India, in Japan, and among the Kalmuks, they are held in reverence, though elsewhere they are often killed for the sake of their decorative plumes. _Grus communis_, the Common Crane of Europe and Northern Asia, which used to breed in Britain until the end of the sixteenth century, and reaches North Africa, India, and China on the winter migration, is ashy-grey, with white cheeks, nape, and sides of the neck, black primaries and inner secondaries; the crown being bare, with blackish bristles and red warty skin. _G. lilfordi_ of East Siberia is a lighter race. _G. canadensis_ is a smaller species, hardly different from _G. mexicana_, the "Sandhill Crane" of the United States, which is slaty-grey, with a brownish wash. _G. monachus_, another similar form from Eastern Asia, has all the head white except the bare portion. _G. nigricollis_ of Koko-nor has the feathered part of the head, the upper neck, the wings, tail, and inner secondaries black; _G. japonensis_ of North Eastern Asia is white, with grey-black throat and fore-neck, the dark colour extending to a point on the hind-neck. _G._ (_Limnogeranus_) _americana_, the Whooping Crane of the United States and Mexico, is pure white with black primaries, the bristly head, lores, and cheeks being bare, and covered with warty red skin. _G._ (_Sarcogeranus_) _leucogeranus_, the Asiatic White Crane, is entirely white, except for the black primaries, and has all the front of the head bare, the red skin extending beyond the eye, and showing a few scattered hairs. This bird ranges at certain seasons to South-East Europe. _G._ (_Antigone_) _collaris_ of India and the Caspian is light grey, with brownish-black primaries, a white ring round the lower neck, and white inner secondaries; the grey-green crown is bare, the occiput and upper neck are red and papillose, with black bristles on the latter. The Burmo-Malay _G. sharpii_ is distinguished by the absence of white; while both enjoy in common the name Sarus. _G._ (_A._) _australasiana_, the "Native Companion"