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Show 374 AVES. Certa·m c ranes, ~11 oreign to Europe, with a shorter beak than is found in those that belong to it, should come next • .11 rd e a pav On;•a , L ·'• Grue couronne; . Enl. 26. 5, and the young, Vieill. 257, (The Crowned Crane.) Figure, hght and graceful; 1l' our 1r ee t m· 11 e1'gl1t·' ash coloured, black bell•y , fawn • colour•e d rump, an d w 11 ite wings·' its na•k ed cheek• s are tmged •W ith white, ancl a b ri· gh t r ose · colour' and 1ts head 1s crowned. With a bundle of yellow, slender feathers, which it ~pens and d1splays at plea· sure. Tlu ·s beauti'ful bird ' whose vo1ce resembles the c.la.n gor a trumpe t , 1'n habits the western coast of A• frica, wher• e It 1s fre•· quently kept in the huts, and fed on gram. In a wild state It frequents inundated places, and preys on small fish. . .!lrdea virgo; Demoiselle de Numidie; Enl. 246. (The Nu~i· dian Crane.) Similar to the preceding in form, an? almo~t.m si· ze; as h co 1o u red·, a black neck with two beauttful whitish aigrettes, formed by the prolongation of the slender feat~ers which cover the ears. Those which have been observed ma state of captivity were remarkable for their fantastic and affect· • ed gestures. ( 1) The Common Cranes have a beak as long as the head, ?r longer: .!lrdea grus, L.; Grus cinerea, Bechst., Enl. 769; Frtsch, 194, N aum. Ed . I , 2 ' f· 2• (The Common Crane.) Four feeft and upwards in height; ash coloured; black throat; top o the head red and naked; the rump ornamented with long, recurved and frizzled feathers, partly black. This bird has been cele· brated f1·om the earliest ages for its regular mi·g rati·o ns f~ 0 m north to south in the autumn, and vice versa in the sprmg, which it effects in immense and well ordered bodies. It feeds on grain but prefers the worms and insects of marshy grounds. This spe'c ies is often mentw. ned by the anc1. en t "'r i. ters ' becaused the course of its migrations seems to be through Greece an Asia Minor.(2) Between the Cranes and Herons '\V'e must place b k .!lrd. scolopacea, Gm.; Le Courlan, E·nl. 848,(3) whose ea' ( 1) The anatomists of the Institute had appli. ed to t h'I S b'1 1' d ' 0 n accoun.t of t itda gestures, the names of Scops, Otu&, and .11 sw• , b Y wh 1' c 11 the ancients desJgna ree the JJuCB of Europe (Bubo). Buffon, who had so v,rell refuted .this error as · garded the DuCB, falls into it himself when speaking of the JJ.rd. vtrgo. . llitr (2) To this genus also belong JJ.rd. canadensis, Edw. 133; the (}rue ll 6 CO .L~ Enl. 865, and the Crane of India, Eclw. 45, (Jl1·d. antt•g one) V1· e1'1 1 ., Ga' l • 25 ·-we 1 IT No. Grue blunc!Le, Enl. 889, (J11·d. americana) and the JJ.rd. gigantea, Pall.,h·!'' ~e·-SO t. I which does not appear to us to differ in the least from thew 1• e 0 ' fin'a lly, 't he Jlrd. carunculata, which is not a Heron, as suppose d by. Gm, deh. nS. ix, pL (3) Vieillot l1as made his genus An..&.M.us, Gal. p. 252, from th1s bJr ' P 91, calls it Rallua ardeoi'dea. GRALLATORIJE. thinner and more cleft than that of the Cranes, is inflated near the last third of its length, and whose toes, all tolerably long, are without any intenening membrane whatever. It has the habits, and is the size of a Heron; the plumage is brown, with two white pencils on the neck. .llrd. helias, L.; Le Caurale (EunYPYGAt Illig.);( 1) Oiseau du solei!, &c. Enl. 702. (The Sun-Bird.) The commissure of its bill, which is more slender than that of the Cranes, but fur! nished with similar nasal fossc:c, extends to beneath the eyes, like that of the Herons, but the beak itself is destitute of the naked skin at its base. It is about the size of a Partridge, and its long slender neck, broad and open tail, and rather short legs give it a very different appearance from that of any other Wader. Its plumage shaded in bands and lines with brown, fawn-colour, red, grey and black, recalls to our minds the colouring of the most beautiful of the nocturnal Lepidoptera. It is found on the banks of the rivers in Guiana. The second tribe is more carnivorous, and is known by its stronger beak and larger toes: we may place at its head, CANCROMA, Liri. The Boat-bills, which would closely approach the Herons in the strength of their beak and in the regimen resulting therefrom, but for the extraordinary form of that organ, which we shall find, however, by close examination, to be nothing more than the beak of a Heron or Bittern, very much flattened. In fact, it is very wide from right to left, and is formed like two spoons, the concave sides of which are placed in contact. The mandibles are strong and trenchant, the upper one having a sharp tooth on each side of its point; the nostrils, situated near its base, are continued on in two parallel grooves to near the point. There are four toes to the feet, long, and almost without membranes, and accordingly we find that these birds perch upon trees on the banks of rivers, whence they precipitate themselves upon the fish, whlch constitute their customary food. Their gait h slow, and in their attitudes, they resemble the Herons . The species known is, Caner. eochlearia, L.; Enl. 38 and 369; Vieill. Gal. pl. 249. (The Boat-bill.) Size of a hen; whitish; grey or brown back; red belly; a white forehead, followed by a black calotte, which, (1) Vieillot has changed this name into that of Heliaa. |