530 CREX PRATENSIS. 



to the thicket, whence we can easily start them. Yet they 

 sometimes allow you to come within a yard or two before they 

 rise, and so closely do they sit that I have once or twice seen 

 a small pointer, which I had trained to bird-nesting, spring 

 upon and seize one. 



The Corn Crake visits us in the latter part of April, or 

 early in May. It may seem strange that a bird apparently 

 so ill adapted for continued flight, should yet be capable of 

 performing the long journeys necessary for its annual visits. 

 Its ordinary haunts are fields of corn and grass, and in the 

 less cultivated parts of the country the large patches of flags 

 and other tall herbaceous plants, which occur in moist places. 

 It runs with great celerity, so much so that I think a man 

 could hardly overtake it, and it seems extremely averse from 

 flying, for it seldom rises until one gets quite close to it. 

 When it has started it flies heavily, with considerable speed, 

 allowing its legs to hang, and soon alights. 



In an oat-field in Harris I once shot at a Rail that sud- 

 denly rose among my feet, when, apparently not having been 

 hit, it flew off in a direct course to the sea, about four hundred 

 paces distant, where, to my surprise, it alighted and floated 

 motionless, sitting lightly on the Avater, like a Coot or Gal- 

 linule. Soon after a Black -backed Gull coming up, spied it, 

 and, uttering a loud chuckle of delight, descended with 

 rapidity, and carried it off in its bill. In this case I think 

 the bird was so frighted, although not hurt, that it entirely 

 lost its presence of mind. 



At all times of the day, but more especially in the early 

 morning, and towards twilight, it utters its singular and 

 well-known cry, resembling the syllables crek, crek, repeated 

 at short intervals, and often continued for many minutes, 

 probably a quarter of an hour or more, if the bird is not dis- 

 turbed. It has the reputation of being an expert ventrilo- 

 quist, and, whether or not it deserves that title, it is certain 

 that one is very apt to be mistaken as to the spot in which 

 the bird is when he listens to its cry, which is at one time 

 loud, at another low, now seems to indicate a close proximity, 

 now a remote position, and even appears to come from various 

 directions. I have heard the Thrush and the Robin so sing, 



