RALLID.^. 



507 



THE LAND-RAIL. 



Crex pratensis, Bechstein. 



The Land-Rail, also known as the Corn-Crake, is widely dis- 

 tributed in summer throughout the British Islands. It usually makes 

 its appearance in the southern counties of England during the last 

 ten days of April, though m Yorkshire and northward it is seldom 

 heard till the first or second week in May, and only towards the end 

 of that month in the Shetlands. Westward, it has been obtained 

 in St. Kilda, and it is common in the Outer Hebrides, where it is 

 probable that a few birds occasionally pass the winter. This is 

 undoubtedly the case in Ireland, and, more rarely, in England ; but 

 the majority have taken their departure before October. The bird 

 may be found wherever there is grass-land. 



This species occasionally breeds in the Faroes, but its occurrence 

 in Iceland has not been authenticated, though an example was 

 obtained in South Greenland in 1851 and another in May 1892. 

 Individuals which had, no doubt, availed themselves of the assist- 

 ance of vessels, have frequently been obtained of late years on the 

 eastern sea-board of the United States; and in October 1847 one was 

 shot in the Bermudas. As a wanderer the Land-Rail has been found 

 in the Azores and Madeira, while in the southern countries of Europe 



