2^0 



Bn'lisli Birds. 



Baillon's Crake. 



The Little Crake. 



The Spotted Crake. 



THE SPOTTED 

 CRAKE. 



are similar to those of other Rails, and it makes its nest m tussocks in the marshes. 



The eggs are seven or eight in number, of an oval shape and olive in colour with 



brown markings ; they measure a little over an inch in length. 



In the Spotted Crake the se.xes are alike in plumage and the 



secondaries are as long as the primaries, so that the wing is 



,D , , more rounded. It is an olive-brown bird with small white spots 



{Forznna porznna.) ' 



distributed among the black markings of the upper surface : the 

 throat and breast are ashv, and the bill is vellow, inclining to orange-red at the base. 

 To Great Britain the present species is a summer visitor, but is everywhere very 

 local in its distribution. It is distributed throughout the greater part of Europe in 

 summer, and extends to Central Asia, wintering in the Indian Peninsula and North- 

 eastern Africa. In habits it resembles the Water-Rail, and it makes a somewhat 

 large nest of reeds and sedge on the ground in reed-beds. The eggs are from eight 

 to a dozen in number, of the usual double spotted Ralline type, and measure about 

 an inch-and-a-half in length. 



A single specimen of this North American species has been ob- 

 tained near New- 



THE CAROLINA 

 CRAKE. 



[Porzann laiolinn. I 



bury in Berkshire. 



It differs from the 

 Spotted Crake in having the cheeks 

 and centre of the throat black. It is a 

 plentiful species in some ot the United 

 States, and wanders south in winter 

 to Central and South America. In 

 habits it resembles our Spotted Crake, 

 but the eggs are slightly smaller. 



The Carolina Ckake. 



