194 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
SPOTTED CRAKE. 
PORZANA MARUETTA (Leach). 
The majority of the Spotted Crakes recorded trom 
Cheshire have been obtained during the autumn migra- 
tion. In the breeding season the bird is apt to be over- 
looked owing to its retiring habits, but it is probable 
that it occasionally nests in the reed-beds of the meres 
and other suitable situations. There is a specimen in 
the Warrington Museum which was obtained near that 
town in June 1892, and we know of an instance of the 
bird nesting just beyond the Lancashire border. Mr. F. 
Nicholson informs us that some years ago some newly 
hatched young were seen, and one was captured on 
swampy ground at the confluence of the Mersey and 
Irwell. 
Byerley says that three Spotted Crakes were shot at 
Hoylake in 1852, and adds that the bird has been 
observed at Kirby Moss.!. Brockholes mentions one 
that was picked up beneath the telegraph wires near 
Ness? and on August 26th, 1890, another was found 
under similar circumstances in the same neighbour- 
hood.2 Two specimens in the Grosvenor Museum, 
Chester, were obtained in October 1888: one in a turnip 
field at Great Sutton, and the other at Upton Nurseries, 
near Chester.* Dr. Dobie records one from Hoole on 
September 11th, 1889, and states that others have 
occurred at Burton, Aldford, and the marshy districts 
of Thornton-le-Moors, Ince, and Helsby. Mr. H. H. 
Corbett tells us that one was shot at Handforth some 
1 Byerley, op. cit. p. 19. * Brockholes, op. cit. p. 13. 
3 E. Comber, Zoologist, ser. 111. vol. xiv. p. 390. 1890. 
4 Dobie, op. cit. p. 331. > Ibid. p. 332. 
