LITTLE CRAKE 35 



from seven to ten broadly oval eggs, of a creamy white or pale buff 

 colour, indistinctly marked with small pale purple blotches, and 

 specks, spots, and streaks of reddish brown, most numerous at the 

 large end. The eggs measure i^ inches or rather less in length; 

 and the adult bird generally weighs about 6, although it may scale 

 8 or even 9 oz. 



A corn-crake brought in by a dog many years ago was observed 

 to feign death, not only when in the dog's mouth, but when carried 

 home in the owner's pocket ; and when a suitable opportunity 

 occurred the bird suddenly woke up and made off at top speed. 

 It does not appear that this remarkable instance of the death-feigning 

 instinct has ever been confirmed by subsequent observation. One 

 other incident is worth repeating. Years ago a corn-crake was de- 

 capitated by the scythe, and her eggs were consigned to the care of 

 a partridge sitting upon eighteen of her own eggs, who brought up 

 and tended the whole of the double brood ! A white corn-crake is 

 on record. 



^ .,^, -, , Although the little crake, on account of the rather 



Little Crake , ^ , •,,,,•, 



,_, ^ shorter secondary quills and a slight difference in 



(Porzana parva). . / ^ , ^, 



the colour of the two sexes, has been made the 



type of a genus by itself, under the name Zapornia parva, it seems 

 best included among the spotted crakes, which form a group of small 

 species characterised by the beak being relatively shorter and the 

 middle toe longer than in the corn-crake, as well as by the brown back, 

 grey or greyish breast, and the presence of a larger or smaller amount 

 of white spotting. The spotted crakes, in this extended sense, include 

 rather less than a score of species, with cosmopolitan distribution ; 

 the range of the present species extending from south and central 

 Europe to Central Asia, and in winter to northern Africa and Sind 

 and Quetta. 



The absence of numerous white spots, and of white on the outer 

 web of the first primary quill, serves to distinguish this species from 

 the undermentioned Baillon's crake, with which it agrees in size. The 

 upper-parts are olive-brown, variegated on the back and scapular region 

 with broad black middles and short white streaks on the feathers, 

 although the wing-coverts are uniformly coloured ; the sides of the 

 face, throat, neck, and the under-parts generally are bluish grey with 

 a few white bars on the flanks, and the under tail-coverts white barred 

 with black. The hen differs from the cock mainly by the buff under- 

 parts ; while young birds may be distinguished from hens by the white 



