A dictionary of British birds : reprinted from Montagu's Ornithological dictionary, and incorporating the additional species described by Selby; Yarrell, in all three editions, and in natural-history journals / compiled and edited by Edward Newman.

George Montagu

Date:: 1866

Credit: A dictionary of British birds : reprinted from Montagu's Ornithological dictionary, and incorporating the additional species described by Selby; Yarrell, in all three editions, and in natural-history journals / compiled and edited by Edward Newman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$CREEPER. not easy to find in so extensive a marsh. So we quartered our ground, working care- fully up one sU'ip of harder ground and down the next. After some hours of heavy walking I saw the eggs—joyful sight!—on an adjacent slip in a perfectly open place. The two eggs lay witli their long diame- ters parallel to one another, and there was just room for a third egg to be placed be- tween them. The nest, about two feet across, was nearly flat, made chiefly of light-coloured grass or hay loosely matted together, scai-cely more than two inches in depth, and raised only two or three inches from the general level of the swamp. There were higher sites close by, and many of them would have seemed more eligible.” The Crane continues to be a bird of excessive raiity in Britain. At p. 2352 of the ‘ Zoologist ’ the late Mr. John WoUey records having seen a specimen of the Common Crane on the |mainland of Shetland, on the 14th of August, 1848. At p. 2600 of the same journal the capture of a female Crane in Oxfordshire is re- corded by Revs. Andrew and Henry Matthews in the spring of 1829. At. p. 2771 Mr. J. H. Gurney mentions a speci- men of the Common Crane as having been shot at Martham, in Norfolk, in December, 1849. At p. 3234 Mr. EUman reports having obtained a male of this bird, shot near Pevensey, in Sussex, in May, 1849. At p. 4512 Mr. Borrer records having seen one in the Museum at Chichester, which had been shot the day before, at Pagham, in Sussex. And lastly, at p. 8005, there is a notice of Mr. Abbott having received a spe- cimen of the Crane, shot at Hartlepool, but no date is given.] Supplement. — A few years since, a small flock appeared in the harvest time, at TingwaU, in Zetland, one of which was shot. They were observed to feed on corn, a very unusual food for such bii’ds. Crane.—See Shag. [Crane, Numidian. — Grus Virgo, Gould, Birds of Europe, Part 20.— This beautiful species stands three feet three inches in height, and its fi^re is elegant and slen- der. The prevaning colour is the most delicate blue-grey; the crown of the head, the cheeks, the upper part of the neck, and some long pendant feathers situated at the base of the neck, as well as the tips of the primaries, are black : from behind the eye, on each side of the head, there arises a tuft of long white feathers, which form a sort of drooping crest: the beak is black at the base, but the remainder is of an ochreous-yellow colour. The sexes are very nearly alike, and the young pre- sent scarcely any difference in colour. This species is very common in the North of Africa, and abounds in Egypt at the overflowing of the Nile; it is also found on the shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, and the Aral and Baikal Lakes. Many specimens have been killed on the shores of the Adriatic, and a few in the Islands of the Mediterranean, one in Piedmont, and one near Aubonne in Switzerland.’ They frequent the banks of rivers and the shores of seas and lakes, feeding piincipally on fish and reptiles. These bii’ds are very commonly kept in confinement, and soon get tame and sociable. Buffon says that one lived twenty-four years at Versailles, and several instances have occurred of their breeding in captivity. In the Zoologist ’ for 1863, at p. 8692, is the following record of the occurrence of two of these birds in Orkney :— “ A fine male bird, in beautiful plumage, the Demoiselle or Numidian Crane {Grus Virgo), was shot on Thursday, the 14th of May, 1863, at Deerness, east Mainland, Orkney, and has since been preserved for Mr. Reid, bookseller, of Kirkwall. Two of the birds Avere seen at Deerness for some days, and were pursued and shot at several times. When one was kUled, the other flew over to the neigh- bouring Island of Copinshay, and was not afterwards seen by the Deerness folks, who describe the flight and walking of this remarkable bird as something very graceful. It appeared in good condition, weighing about five pounds. The gulls and lapAvings continually attacked the tAvo strangers whenever they walked or Avinged their way over the grass and oat fields, and they were frequently heard to utter a hoarse scream when thus persecuted. No- thing was found in the stomach of the one kOled but a few oats, and a few of the same grains were also adherent to the tongue. A day or tAvo after the first had been shot, its companion returned to Deerness from Copinshay, and was again seen in the fields, probably in search of its mate. Several poi’ties endeavoured to stalk it, but Avithout success. — John o’ Groat's Journal.’’) Crank-Bird. — See Woodpecker, Least- spotted. [Cravat Goose.—A name of the Canada Goose.] Creeper. — A genus of birds, the charac- ters of Avhich are : Bill slendei’, incui-vated. Toes three before, one behind. ChiAvs hooked and long. Tail of tAvelvo stifi’ sharp-pointed feathers. Creeper, Common. — [Yarrell, ii. 170;$