Of fossil Rallidae an extraordinary number are found, ranging from the possibly toothed Telmatornis of the American Cretaceous rocks, Gypsornis, Orthnocnemus, Elaphrocnemus, and Tapinopus of the French Upper Eocene, and Rallus of both Eocene and Miocene of the same country, to Fulica minor of the Pliocene of Oregon. Of more recently exterminated forms we have Tribonyx (?) roberti from Central Madagascar, the long-billed flightless Aphanapteryx broecki and Fulica newtoni from the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius, Porphyrio caerulescens from Réunion, and the "Poule Rouge" (Erythromachus leguati) from Rodriguez. In New Zealand are found the large Aptornis defossor and A. otidiformis, with two species of Notornis; in the Chatham Islands Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi and Ocydromus insignis–all six flightless; in the latter islands, too, an extinct Fulica (Palaeolimnas) occurs, and in Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands Notornis alba, as above. Queensland furnishes Porphyrio mackintoshi, P. reperta, Tribonyx effluxus, Gallinula strenuipes, G. peralata, and Fulica prior. The Sandwich Islands may possibly yet contain Rallus sandvicensis and Pennula ecaudata, further instances of flightless species, but this is improbable.
Fam. II. Gruidae.–The Cranes are very old forms, superficially somewhat like Herons, and often confounded with them in local parlance–as is the case in Scotland and Ireland. They are among the largest of Waders, and are scattered over most of the globe, except the Malay islands, Papuasia, and Polynesia; but in the Neotropical Region they are mere migrants from the north, never found south of Mexico. Their headquarters are in North-East Asia, while America possesses only three species, and Australia one.
These long-necked and long-legged birds have a moderate bill, straight and rather compressed, which varies from slender to stout, with a lateral groove on each side of the mandible and nasal furrows about halfway down the maxilla; in Balearica this feature is comparatively short. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated behind; the tibia is partly bare; the toes are short and stout, the anterior being more or less connected at the base by a membrane; the hallux is small, much elevated, and furnished with a sharp hooked claw. The wings are described by different writers as long or moderate, but are certainly ample and rounded, with about thirty-three quills, of which eleven are primaries; the decomposed inner secondaries exceed the last-named, and are either lanceolate and drooping, or broad and erectile, while in Bugeranus and Tetrapteryx they are extraordinarily extended. The short tail has twelve rectrices. Anthropoïdes has long silky auricular plumes, Balearica a bristly crest and a naked gular wattle, Bugeranus a feathered lappet on each side of the throat, Antigone australasiana a pendulous pouch, and most species, as will be seen below, a partly bare carunculated head. The tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils pervious; while, except in Balearica, the trachea of the adult is convoluted within the keel of the sternum, but enters it behind the clavicles,–which are often ancylosed with it,–and not in front of them, as in certain Swans, the development varying according to the species and the age. In Anthropoïdes the cavity of the keel is open laterally. The furcula is Y-shaped, the aftershaft is very small, the down is uniform in both adults and young.
Cranes are inhabitants of morasses and plains, being especially fond of the neighbourhood of lagoons, tanks, and fields of corn or rice; yet they are also found in boggy openings in forests, on sandy flats, or even on the sea-shore. They are gregarious after the breeding season, when they often collect into flocks of immense size, which pass the night together and traverse vast distances in company. The northern species all migrate southwards in winter. Erect and tall, they may be seen striding swiftly along with head thrown back, or strutting around their mates; while in spring they often stand in rows and proceed to stalk about in single file, or dance to meet one another with nodding heads, necks advanced, and wings widely outspread. Thereafter they bow towards the ground, jump in the air, and perform graceful antics of all descriptions. The chosen spot for these dances is commonly near water. The male courts his spouse in somewhat similar fashion, and twigs or feathers are often tossed in the air in sport, to be caught again ere they touch the ground. Rising from a level spot appears to be a difficult matter, the birds running awkwardly for a few yards, and labouring heavily with their wings to gain their purpose; when once in the air, however, the flight is steady and swift, with head and legs outstretched, though this is varied by countless elegant evolutions and gyrations, as they rise higher and higher until they become mere specks in the heavens, and finally disappear from sight. The characteristic utterance is a harsh guttural or resonant trumpeting sound, uttered on the ground with the head thrown back and the bill open, or repeated incessantly at great elevations; but the Whooping Crane has a clear, piercing cry, the Asiatic White Crane a feeble but mellow whistle, and the Crowned Cranes a plaintive but fairly sonorous set of notes. The varying calibre of the voice has been thought to be connected with the convolutions of the trachea mentioned above, the young giving vent to a weak pipe or trill. Virgil's lines concerning the noise made before rain, and the flight, are well-known to Latin scholars. The food consists of grain, pulse, acorns, shoots, flowers, roots, tubers, bulbs, and the like, with the occasional addition of small mammals and birds, reptiles, amphibians, worms, insects, and even fish; the members of this Family, however, dislike wading, and only swim under compulsion. Feeding chiefly in the morning and evening, when they post sentinels, as Rooks do, they often stand or doze upon one leg, with the head drawn back upon the shoulders. Cranes, which are said to pair for life, return to the same breeding haunts annually, where they either construct a large fabric of reeds, rushes, and aquatic herbage, or use straw and small twigs for their nest. The conical pile, with its moderate depression on the top, is commonly placed in shallows, fresh materials being added if the water rises. Several species, 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 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" of East Australia, has the neck feathered, and possesses a red and green gular pouch, covered with the same black hairs as the face, the general coloration resembling that of its congeners. G. (Pseudogeranus) leucauchen, the "Tan-cho" or national Crane of the Japanese, part of the crown and the cheeks bare, warty, and red, with black hairs. often seen in their clever drawings, is grey, with white hind-crown, nape, throat, and inner secondaries; the rest of the wing-quills and the tip of the tail are black, the fore-part of the crown and the cheeks bare, warty, and red, with black hairs.
Fig. 51.–Crowned Crane. Balearica pavonina. × ⅛.
It is found westward to Lake Baikal, and southward in winter to the Yangtse basin. G. (Bugeranus) carunculata, the Wattled Crane of South Africa, is slaty-coloured, becoming blacker towards the tail, and browner towards the mantle; the cheeks and the whole neck are white, with elongated chest plumes; a lappet, with white feathering, hangs from each side of the throat; and the fore-part of the head is covered with bare red papillose skin. G. (Tetrapteryx) paradisea, the "Stanley" Crane of the same districts, is leaden blue, with black ends to the inner secondaries, and a white crown; the head is entirely feathered, and the chest plumes elongated as in the next species. G. (Anthropoïdes) virgo, the "Demoiselle" Crane, inhabits South Europe, and extends to Central Asia and North China, migrating to Northern Africa and India in winter. It is silvery-grey, with white ear-tufts, black sides of the head, neck, chest, primaries, and tips to the inner secondaries. Balearica pavonina, the Crowned Crane of the northern Ethiopian Region, is greenish-black above and dark grey below, most of the feathers being lanceolate; the neck is delicate grey all round, the secondaries are chestnut–the inner being somewhat decomposed; white and yellow shew on the wing-coverts; a spreading tuft of twisted yellow and white bristles with black tips surmounts the occiput, while the sides of the face are bare–white above and pink below, and the throat is covered with black down. There is a very small throat-wattle in this form, but B. chrysopelargus, the Kaffir Crane of South Africa, has it much larger and chiefly red, differing moreover in its greyer plumage, and white cheek-patch with only a border of crimson above. In B. gibbericeps of East Africa, the bare skin of the face extends almost to the nape.
In Cranes the sexes are alike; but the young are browner, with rusty or buff tips to the feathers, or even with downy instead of more or less naked heads, as in adults. Immature birds lack the elongated plumes. The bill is usually greenish-grey, brown, or black, at times with a little red, but it is yellow in Limnogeranus; the feet vary from greyish- or bluish-black to dull green or flesh-colour; the iris is generally crimson, orange, or yellow.
The Upper Eocene of Hampshire furnishes the fossil Geranopsis as well as Grus, the Italian Eocene Palaeogrus, that of Wyoming four species of Aletornis; Grus occurs, moreover, in the Miocene of France, the Pliocene of Attica and the United States, while G. primigenia of the French and Italian Plistocene, with G. melitensis of the Zebbug cave in Malta, complete the list.