CRANE:

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Ira Maurice Price

A rendering, in the A. V., of the Hebrew word or , which in the R. V. is more correctly translated "swallow." "Crane," however, is the proper rendering in the R. V. of the word , as in Isa. xxxviii. 14 and Jer. viii. 7. The first of these texts describes the crane as a bird that chatters: while the second points out its migratory character. The bird now identified with this crane, on the authority of Tristram and Hart, is the Grus communis. It is met with in Palestine in large numbers during the summer; and it winters generally in northern Africa. It is said to be the largest bird now found in Palestine, often measuring four feet in length. It gathers in large flocks at common roosting-places, where the chatter and clanging of its notes may be heard, especially at night, at a long distance. The peculiar anatomy of this bird has for some years engaged the attention of zoologists.

E. G. H. I. M. P.