baillon's crake. 157 



elevation of 4,000 feet, and he took a nest near Etawah, 

 finding this species in localities where the Little Crake 

 was not observed. It is recorded hy Captain Legge as a 

 rare visitor to Ceylon ; Mr. Davison obtained it in the 

 Andaman Islands ; and it has occurred on the west 

 coast of Borneo. Passing northwards, it is found in the 

 eastern provinces of China, breeding near Pekin ; in Japan ; 

 in Southern Siberia ; and in Dauria, where Dybovvski 

 found it breeding. A straggler to Madeira on migra- 

 tion, Baillon's Crake appears to be scarce in Morocco, 

 although tolerably abundant and partially resident in 

 Algeria ; and, again, it is of local distribution in Egypt, 

 although found as far as Khartoum. Dr. Barboza du 

 Bocage has only once received it from Angola, but Anders- 

 son found it resident and plentiful in the marshes of 

 Damara Land ; Layard obtained it in Cape Colony ; it 

 breeds in the Transvaal and Natal ; Mr. E. Newton re- 

 cords it from Antananarivo, Madagascar, and Mr. Seebohm 

 has specimens from the centre of that island. 



Baillon's Crake appears to be less partial to meres and 

 open water than the Little Crake ; on the contrary, it fre- 

 quents the smaller marshes and swamps, especially where 

 there is a surrounding of tamarisk and other bushes. 

 Evening and daybreak are almost the only times when it 

 is to be seen, unless very much pressed by a dog, and 

 even then it is loth to take wing. Its call-note is said 

 to be similar to that of the Little Crake. The nest, 

 concealed amongst the aquatic vegetation, is composed of 

 dry flags and sedge ; the eggs, numbering from six to eight, 

 are of an olive-brown, marked with darker blotches and 

 streaks, occasionally almost umber-brown in colour, and 

 measure about 1 by -8 in. The food of this species appears 

 to consist of insects and their larvae, especially gnats, and 

 small moUusks, with a little vegetable matter. 



In the adult male the beak is green, the base red; irides 

 red ; top of the head and back of the neck clove-brown ; 

 centre of the back and the scapulars brown, thickly streaked 

 with black, and thinly with white ; wing-coverts and tertials 



