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Cranes
The cranes, as a family, are birds of largest size, seventeen vertebrae being the usual number in their long necks, and their stilt-like legs elevate their compactly feathered bodies to a conspicuous height. Usually the head is partly bare, or covered with hairlike feathers. Bill is long, straight, slender, and strong. Plumage either white or gray. Solitary wanderers over the plains and marshes, the cranes associate in flocks only at the migrations, although sometimes not averse to feeding in company with other birds, like the geese, for example, as suspicious as they. Field mice, snakes, lizards, frogs, berries, and cereals, all are swallowed by these rapacious feeders. Their voice is harsh, croaking, and resonant, and is frequently heard at night.