THE SPOTTED CRAKE. 



199 



bogs in Berwickshire, such as the Everett Moss at Leger- 

 wood, or Eedpath Bog, near Cowdenknowes. Long ago, 

 the great bog of Billie Mire, which extended for miles, 

 and whose surface was covered with dense beds of reeds 

 and rushes, would doubtless be a breeding place of the 

 Spotted Eail. 



The food of this bird consists of worms, slugs, and 

 insects. Hewitson, quoting from Hancock, says that the 

 nest, which is usually difficult to find, is placed in marshy 

 ground in a thick bed of reeds, and is composed of the 

 long ribbon-like grass of the reeds, lined with a finer soft 

 grass.^ The eggs, from seven to ten in number, are reddish- 

 grey, spotted with reddish-brown. This species is smaller 

 than the Corn Crake, darker in colour, and spotted over 

 with small white specks on the neck, back, and wings. 



1 Hewitson, Eggs of British Birds, vol. ii. p. 376. 



iij1~ ftlii 



