LITTLE CRAKE. BAT 
CREX PARVA. 
LITTLE CRAKE. 
(PLATE 23.) 
Rallus parvus, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 108 (1769); et auctorum plurimorum 
—(Hume § Marshall), (Biddulph), (Scully), (Dresser), (Saunders), &e. 
Rallus mixtus, Lapeyr. Mamm. et Ois. de la Haute-Garonne, p. 38 (1799). 
Gallinula pusillus, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 840 (1803, nec Pall. 1826). 
Gallinula minuta, Mont. Orn. Dict. Suppl. G 2, fol. 9 (1813, nec Pall. 1826). 
Gallinula foljambei, Mont. Orn. Dict, Append. fol. B b (1818). 
Zapornia minuta (Mont.), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus, p. 34 (1816). 
Rallus peyrousei, Vieill. N. Dict. d Hist. Nat. xxviii. p. 562 (1819). 
Ortygometra olivacea, Steph. Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xii. pt. i. p. 226 (1824), 
Rallus minutus, Pall. apud Bonaparte, Keyserling § Blasius, Degland § Gerbe, -Blan- 
ford, &c. 
Rallus pusillus, Pall, apud Lichtenstein, Stephens, Bonaparte, Meves, Temminck, &c. 
The Little Crake is a rare visitor to our islands on spring and autumn 
migration; it’is not impossible that some may remain to breed, and 
others occasionally remain during the winter. It has occurred in England 
between thirty and forty times, but is not recorded from Wales, only once 
from Scotland, and twice from Ireland. 
The range of the Little Crake is much more restricted than that of 
Baillon’s Crake, and coincides very closely with that of the western form 
of the Water-Rail. It has not occurred on the Faroes, and can scarcely 
be regarded as more than an accidental visitor ts South Sweden. In 
Denmark it is more numerous, and in Russia it is a summer visitor in the 
west as far north as Riga, and in the east as far north as Astrakhan, 
whence its range extends in Asia throughout Russian Turkestan except in 
the north-east. It passes through Gilgit on migration, and winters in 
Western Scind. It breeds in Afghanistan, but does not appear to have 
been discovered in Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine, or North-east Africa, 
although it is very common in the Caucasus. In Central and Southern 
Europe it is somewhat locally distributed, and is a resident in Algeria. It 
passes through Spain and Greece on migration, and probably breeds and 
winters in both countries. 
The Little Crake, from its shy and retiring habits and small size, is very 
apt to be overlooked, and consequently very little has been recorded of its 
habits. The haunts it frequents are marshes, the reeds and other coarse 
vegetation growing on the banks of large pools and sluggish streams, and 
dense reed-beds. It is very fond of swimming on open water, and may 
often be seen running on dry land; but when alarmed it always takes 
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