152 



THE LAND-RAIL. 



Crex pratensis, Bechst. 



It seems evident that the Land-Rail must have arrived 

 almost entirely to the west of Hampshire, as there were 

 hardly any records from the south-coast counties. The 

 earliest notices were all from the Midland counties between 

 the 16th and 20th of April, and a number of birds had 

 evidently arrived before the end of the month. Land- 

 Rails were reported from the Caskets light on the night 

 of the 24th, and there was evidently a passage-movement 

 up the west coast on the night of the 29th. Early migrants 

 reached Cumberland on the 22nd and Northumberland on 

 the 23rd, while arrivals were first recorded from Lanca- 

 shire, Yorkshire and Ayrshire on the 28th, from the Isle 

 of Man on the 30th of April, and from Renfrewshire 

 on the 1st of May. After that date the species rapidly 

 became more numerous in various parts of the country, but 

 the localities were too few and scattered to convey much 

 information. A record from Bardsey light on the night of 

 the 5th, a newly arrived example in the Isle of Wight on the 

 15th of May and increases in the more northerly counties 

 until the 1st of June indicated a continued influx of migrants 

 and a northward passage up the west coast throughout the 

 greater part of May. No notes were received as to the 

 nesting of this species. 



Chronological Summary of the Records. 



April 16th. Leicester, 

 M 17th. Warwick. 



20th. Cambridge. 



