S3 



LAND-RAIL. 



CORN-CRAKE. DAKER HEN. MEADOW-CRAKE. 

 PLATE CLXXIX. FIG I. 



Crex pratensis, .... Selby. Jenyns. 



Hallus crex, Montagu. 



Gallinula crex, .... Bewick. 



Oriygometra crex, .... Fleming. 



PorpJiyno rufescens, . . . Brisson. 



The nest of this species is placed among long grass 

 or corn, in a furrow or some slight hollow, and is 

 lined with a few of the leaves and stalks of the neigh- 

 bouring herbage. 



The eggs, commonly seven or eight, or ten, or even 

 eleven in number, are of a pale reddish brown, or 

 reddish or yellowish white colour, spotted and speckled 

 with grey and reddish brown. They do not vary much, 

 except in the size and greater or less number of the 

 spots. Some are of a red tinted ground colour, with 

 blots of deep red brown and purple; others white, 

 with a faint tinge of blue, and fancifully streaked and 

 spotted all over. Two broods are wont to be reared 

 in the year, the first being hatched between the be- 

 ginning or middle of June, or later towards the end. 



The young quit the nest when hatched, and in rather 

 less than six weeks are able to fly. The female sits 

 very close, and often suffers in consequence, from the 

 unwitting scythe of the mower. 



