baillon's crake. 165 



Mr. Francis Edwards, of Brislingtoii, near Bristol, sent up, 

 for the use of this work, an adult female of this species killed 

 on some marshy ground near Weston-saper-mare ; and two 

 more have occurred in Somersetshire since 1869. Mr. Eodd 

 states (B. of Cornwall, p. 135) that it has occurred at least 

 three times in that county, and it has probahly visited at 

 irregular intervals the majority of the southern districts. 



It might naturally be expected that this species would be 

 most abundant in Norfolk, but Mr. Stevenson states that he 

 finds the records of its occurrences far more rare than those 

 of the Little Crake. He enumerates three examples shot 

 on Barton Fen, and one at Dilham, originally recorded by 

 the late Mr. Lubbock ; one near Yarmouth, on 2Brd August, 

 1842, recorded by and in the possession of Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney ; two obtained in October, 1840, and an adult female 

 on 2nd June, 1874 (Zool. s.s. p. 4292). As regards the 

 discovery of the supposed nest and eggs of this bird 

 in Norfolk, in the summer of 1866, which was first 

 announced in the ' Zoologist ' for that year (p. 389) 

 by Mr. J. Overend, of Yarmouth, Mr. Stevenson gives 

 the following particulars from further inquiries at the 

 time, and communications received from Mr. K. Upcher, 

 Mr. Crowfoot, and Mr. Frere, of Yarmouth : — " It appears 

 that the four eggs mentioned by Mr. Overend as purchased 

 on the 9th of June, were taken on that day on Heigham 

 Sounds, near Hickling, by a labouring man, who sold 

 them to a lad named John Smith, at Yarmouth, who 

 had been in the habit of collecting eggs for Mr. Crow- 

 foot. The former was of course ignorant as to what 

 they were ; but as soon as their rarity was known, it was 

 elicited from the man who took them that he had seen the 

 parent birds near the nest, which was placed in a parcel 

 of reeds growing in water about a foot in depth. It was 

 very small and loosely made, composed of dry rushes. A 

 few days later Smith paid a visit to the spot with the hope 

 of securing the nest, but found that the reeds had been cut 

 and the nest spoiled, and no doubt the man who discovered 

 it was employed in reed- cutting at the time. Five eggs 



