Abstract
THIS is an excellent monograph of an exceedingly interesting group of birds. On the arrival in 1873 of a pair of the beautiful white-naped cranes of Japan in London they were drawn by Mr. T. W. Wood for the Field newspaper, and the late Edward Blyth took the opportunity of publishing in the columns of that paper a monograph of all the then known species of crane. At the suggestion of Prof. A. Newton, Mr. Tegetmeier has republished these notes, inserting however much new matter that either want of space had prevented Blyth from incorporating, or that had come to hand since Blyth's death. Thus we have Wolley's graphic account of the nesting of the common crane in Lapland, Dr. Cullen's account of the nesting of the Demoiselle in Bulgaria, and even Col. Prjevalsky's account of a new species found at Koko-nor. Sixteen species, two belonging to the genus Balearica and fourteen to the genus Grus, are described. Mr. Wood's figures of Grus leucauchen axe reproduced. There is a facsimile of the coloured figure of Grus nigricollis from Col. Prjevalsky's “Birds of Mongolia”; a spirited sketch by Prof. W. H. Flower of flocks of Grus virgo on the banks of the Nile; some copies of studies of cranes from Mr. Cutler's beautifully-illustrated work on Japanese ornament (charming studies); and a few woodcuts of anatomical details.
The Natural History of the Cranes.
A Monograph by the late Edward Blyth. Greatly enlarged and reprinted with numerous illustrations by W. B. Tegetmeier. (Published for the Author, 1881.)
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The Natural History of the Cranes . Nature 24, 77 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/024077a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/024077a0