330 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family RALLTD^. Genus Crex. 



Sub-family RALLIN^. 



LITTLE CRAKE. 



Crex parva {Scopoli). 



(British : Possibly breeds : Rare abnormal spring and autumn 

 migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



Breeding area : Western Palsearctic region. The 

 Little Crake breeds in Holstein, and along- the southern 

 shores of the Baltic to Livonia, and across Central and 

 Southern Russia to Astrakhan in the valley of the Volga, 

 and to the Caucasus. It probably breeds in Denmark, 

 and does so in Southern Germany, Austro-Hungary, 

 Italy, Sicily, Savoy, Central and Southern France, and 

 possibly in Spain and Greece. Eastwards it breeds in 

 Russian Turkestan and in Afghanistan. South of the 

 Mediterranean it breeds in Algeria, and probably else- 

 where in North-west Africa. 



Breeding habits : The Little Crake returns to such 

 of its haunts as a severe climate compels it to leave in 

 winter, in April. It is not a gregarious bird, and lives in 

 isolated pairs, which keep exclusively to themselves. It 

 probably pairs annually. The favourite breeding haunts 

 of this Crake are in marshes, swamps, reed-beds, and the 

 rank, dense vegetation on the margins of lakes and pools. 

 The nest is artfully concealed amongst the aquatic 

 vegetation, sometimes placed a foot or more above the 

 surface of the water on a bunch of fallen reeds, sometimes 

 under the shelter of a tuft of sedge. It is a somewhat 

 large and bulky structure, as is usual with nests made in 

 aquatic sites, and is composed of bits of reeds and flags, 

 dry grass, rush-leaves, and flower-heads, the cavity 



