iqS Fletcher, Field Notes on the Spotless Crake. [isf'Aprii 



cress is often torn about, but I do not know whether the birds 

 eat it or only search through it for the creatures that it harbours. 

 I have found pieces of reeds pulled up and the ends gone ; 

 evidently the Crakes hke the soft white part at the base. Under 

 damp herbage and among rotting grass a species of " hopper " 

 hves. It is similar to the sand-hopper of the seashore, and I 

 daresay all the Rallinae eat it. 



Owng to the denseness of their habitat the birds are seldom 

 seen, but may be occasionally surprised, and if pressed too closely 

 will sometimes fly a short distance just over the top of the grass, 

 and then drop down. More often they crouch in the grassy 

 tangle, remaining motionless at the base of a tussock. My sister 

 opened a tussock, and when pulhng up the dead matted strands 

 was surprised to see the brown back of the bird. Once I saw a 

 Crake sitting on a fallen stick in the water ; but it soon noticed 

 me, and darted into the rushes. The Spotless Crake has a variety 

 of calls, some of which are pecuhar. One, uttered when the bird 

 is alarmed, resembles the growl of an angry cat. A warning call 

 to one another, if the mates be separated, is similar to the noise 

 made by a sitting hen when a hand is placed under her. The 

 Crakes make this noise if the rushes or logs are struck with a stick. 

 One bird rephes with the low growl. They approach each other 

 as they reply, and it is interesting to hear the contented chuckle 

 when they meet. Another call is like the sound made by a motor- 

 cycle as its engine begins to work. When feeding quietly, the 

 birds utter pretty murmuring sounds, which remind the hstener 

 of air and water escaping from a bottle. These notes are also 

 used to call the Httle ones to follow their parents. 



Early one morning I was endeavouring to discover the nest 

 of a pair of Crakes. I knew that the birds were present, as they 

 sounded the alarm when I struck the rushes and reeds with a 

 stick ; but after I entered the swamp no answer was given. After 

 a little while I became aware that the birds were behind me. and 

 " talking " to themselves. Thus they followed wherever I 

 searched. Not a ghmpse could I get of them, but while I 

 hunted the bubbling chatter continued. The swamps here are 

 boggy depressions between rises. In some the footing under the 

 water is fair ; in others very muddy. They are, in most cases, 

 densely matted with reeds [Juncus pallidiis and Juncus pauci- 

 florus), also the common sword or cutting grass {Carex paniculata) 

 and meadow fescue. Wild musk, peppermint {Mentha viridis), 

 and the water grass {Glycerin fliiitans) choke the channels and 

 overrun every spare space. 



At the beginning of the season much time was devoted to 

 searching under the drooping tussocks, but several small nests 

 found towards the end of August showed that this was useless. 

 Strangely enough, the first nest of the Spotless Crake discovered 

 was in the school swamp, a few yards from the playground, and 

 so close that I often heard the alarm call when the birds were 

 startled by the noise of windows opening. Once the " Squeak 



