108 BRITISH BIRDS. 



The eggs of the Little Crake are, on the average, 

 distmctly larger than those of Baillon's Crake, and have 

 not the same shiny appearance as the latter. The Little 

 Crake seldom lays more than seven eggs, whilst Baillon's 

 Crake often lays nine. 



Purple Gallinule. Porpliyrio cceruleus. 



The eggs of this bird have not often, I believe, been 

 taken by British egg collectors, and although the bird is 

 only a doubtful "vasitor to this country, the following notes 

 from my diary for 1900 may be accej)table : — 



" April 12th. Waded all day in a large reed bed (La 

 Madre, in the south of Spain) . Found a Purple Gallinule's 

 nest with four eggs, very much incubated — within a few 

 days of being hatched out. Also found several other 

 nests building, but not yet ready for use, which a]3parentl3' 

 belonged to the same species. During the day we saw 

 eight Purple Gallinules, which flew up out of the reeds 

 close to us, and there must have been many more which 

 did not rise. 



" Tlie nest which contained the four eggs, and the other 

 nests which, though there were no eggs in them, belonged, 

 we thought, to Purple Gallinules, were built about a foot 

 above the water, in thick reeds, and were like large nests 

 of the Moorhen, but were lined with the flowers of the 

 reeds. Above the nests the reeds were broken and 

 bent together, forming a kind of very light canopy over 

 them." 



On May 24th of this same year (1900) we (Mr. J. C. 

 Musters and I) visited the Lag-una Medina, not far from 

 the town of Jerez de la Frontera, and found a Purple 

 Gallinule's nest containing four perfectly fresh eggs. 

 This nest was built in the centre of a large tussock 

 of high reeds growing in water about three feet in 

 depth. These reeds had no flowers which could have 

 been used as a lining for the nest, nor were they of a 

 kind which could have been bent over in order to form 

 a canopy above the nest. 



