542 CREX PUSILLA. 



Young. — " The young have the tints paler ; nearly the 

 ■whole of the throat is whitish ; the white marks of the fore 

 part of the back are in very small number, and the feathers 

 of the flanks are brown with white bands. 



Habitation. — " It inhabits the same places as the last 

 species, but more habitually marshes ; often visits the fields, 

 where it is met with rather commonly ; lives in great num- 

 bers in the eastern countries of Europe ; pretty common in 

 Germany ; rare in the provinces of the north of France ; 

 more abundant towards the south ; common in Italy ; acci- 

 dentally in Holland. 



Food. — " Insects, small slugs, aquatic plants, and theii 

 seeds. 



Propagation. — " Constructs its nest in the marshes, 

 upon broken canes, rushes, and water plants ; lays seven or 

 eight yellowish eggs, sprinkled with longitudinal olivaceous 

 spots." 



Montagu, who, for his time, added more to the know- 

 ledge of British birds than, I think, any of the several 

 estimable ornithologists who succeeded him, was the first to 

 make known an instance of the occurrence of this bird in 

 England. The specimen alluded to was shot near Ash- 

 burton, in Devonshire, in 1809, and was sent to him by 

 Mr. Tucker. He considered it as appearing " not only to be 

 new as British, but to be a nondescript species, and named 

 it the Little Gallinule, Gallinula minuta." In the Appendix 

 to the Supplement, he describes another individual, " dis- 

 covered by Mr. Foljambe in a poulterer's shop, early in 

 May, 1812, together with some other valuable birds, which 

 had recently been received from the fens in Norfolk." He 

 considered it also a new species, and named it " Olivaceous 

 Gallinule, Gallinula Foljambei." It is thus described: — 

 " The length is seven inches and a half; breadth ten inches 

 and a half. The bill is nearly three quarters of an inch 

 long, of a greenish-yellow colour, the base red; irides and 



