BAILLON'S CRAKE. 337 



in number. They vary from white, or white tinged with 

 green, to buff in ground colour, spotted and speckled with 

 reddish-brown of various shades, and with underlying 

 markings of violet-gray. The spots, which vary from 

 the size of a pea downwards to mere dust-like specks, are 

 pretty generally distributed over the entire surface, and 

 the gray underlying marks on some eggs are large and 

 predominate, or are small and few in number. Average 

 measurement, 1*35 inch in length, by "9 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation, performed by both parents, lasts three weeks. 

 Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Spotted 

 Crake are readily distinguished from those of all other 

 species breeding within our area by the large size and 

 boldness of the spots, and by the tinge of green which 

 shows in the interior of the shell when held up to the 

 light. 



Bail Ion's Crake iCrex baillonz) has certainly bred in 

 Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, its nest, containing eggs, 

 having twice been obtained in both these counties. 

 There can however be little doubt that the bird is now 

 extinct as a regular breeding species, and the occurrence 

 therefore is only of historical interest. The breeding 

 season of this Crake begins in May, and as two broods 

 appear to be reared in the season, fresh eggs may again 

 be found up to August. The nest, built on the ground, 

 is usually placed amongst reeds or sedge in the fens and 

 swamps, and is made of dry leaves, sedges, and bits of 

 broken reed, and lined with dry grasses. The eggs are 

 from five to eight in number, and vary in ground colour 

 from olive-brown to pale buff, mottled and sprinkled 

 over the entire surface with indistinct and ill-defined 

 markings of darker olive-brown, and with a {q.\w under- 

 lying markings of gray. Average measurement, ri inch 

 in length, by -8 inch in breadth. The eggs of Baillon's 



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