34 



RAIL TRIBE 



In summer a streak above the eye, the car-coverts, and fore part of the 

 neck are ashy grey, and the wing-coverts bright chestnut faintly barred 

 with white. Adults in winter, and young birds in first plumage show 

 no trace of ash-grey, while the young are further distinguished by 

 having fewer bars on the flanks. Hens are distinguished by their 

 smaller size, measuring only 9 inches in length. The chick is 

 uniformly black, the black down of the breast being retained till 

 the feathers of the upper-parts are nearly complete. 



The times of arrival and departure of the corn-crake coincide very 

 closely with those of the quail, and, as mentioned under the head of 

 that species, there is an idea prevalent in southern Europe that each 



migrating bevy of 

 quail is headed by a 

 corn-crake. Grassy 

 meadows, especially 

 near water, cornfields, 

 and osier-plantations 

 are the favourite 

 haunts of the corn- 

 crake, whose presence 

 during the breeding- 

 season is revealed by 

 its cry, which is said 

 to be of a ventri- 

 loquial nature, sound- 

 ing near or distant 

 according to the will 

 of the bird. The possession of this ventriloquial power has, however, 

 been disputed by some, who urge that the difference in the location of 

 the sound is real and not apparent, and due to the rapid movements of 

 the bird itself. The cry, it seems, is uttered by the cock alone. When 

 flushed, as sometimes happens in early partridge-shooting, corn-crake 

 fly with a heavy laboured flight and drooping legs, soon to drop into 

 the clover or other covert, from which they can seldom be induced to 

 rise a second time. Like the water-rail, the corn-crake is an omnivorous 

 bird, feeding on insects, worms, snails, slugs, and seeds. Restless and 

 roving on arrival, the cock soon after arrival selects a mate, when the 

 pair lead a more settled life. The nest, which some describe as a 

 simple, and others as an elaborate structure, is built of plant-stems and 

 placed on the ground amid standing grass, clover, or young corn. 

 During the early part of June, as a rule, the hen lays in this receptacle 



COKN-CKAKI'. 



