532 CREX PKATENSIS. 



their mother among the grass or corn. When only a few 

 days old they run with amazing celerity, and scatter about, 

 so that when one falls in with a flock, it is very difficult to 

 catch more than one or two of them. On such an occasion 

 I have seen the old bird come up and run about in great 

 distress. 



Towards the middle of July, the Crake ceases to utter its 

 cry, and one might suppose that it then leaves the country ; 

 but the period of its departure is protracted to the beginning 

 of September. I have seen young birds in the end of that 

 month, and instances of their having been shot in winter have 

 occurred in various parts of the country. 



The flesh of this bird is white, and affords delicate eating ; 

 but this sort of game is not easily obtained in the more highly 

 cultivated tracts. In the Hebrides and "West Highlands, 

 however, few birds are more common, insomuch that there is 

 hardly a patch of the yellow iris, or meadow-sweet, of the 

 nettle, dock, or other tall weed, in which a Crake or two may 

 not be found. Several individuals of my acquaintance in 

 Harris have caught them alive, and I once secured one in the 

 same manner, and afterwards allowed it to fly off. Hearing 

 it utter its notes in an old deserted garden full of weeds and 

 grass, I went up and peeped through a hole in the lower wall, 

 when I, of course, had an excellent opportunity of observing 

 it, as it stood half crouching, with its neck moderately re- 

 tracted. I then rose up suddenly and leaped upon the Avail, 

 when the bird instantly squatted. Keeping my eye upon it, 

 I pulled off my jacket, and crouching, advanced to within a 

 yard or so, spread out the garment, and flinging it over the 

 Crake, followed and secured the prize. Boys in the Hebrides 

 also sometimes kill it by throwing a stick at it in a horizontal 

 direction, at which they are rather expert. In those islands 

 it is not uncommon to see it standing on a turf-wall or other 

 eminence, and uttering its cry. Even " within a mile of 

 Edinburgh," on the stone-wall of a park not far from Gar- 

 dener's Crescent, I, one Sunday afternoon, saw one walking 

 very deliberately along, until, some people coming up, it flew 

 among the wheat. 



The cry of the Crake may be so successfully imitated by 



