OF THE BEITISII ISLANDS. 67 



Family EALLID^E. Genus CBEX. 



Subfamily RALLINJE. 



CORN CRAKE. 



CEEX PEATENSIS. BccJistein. 

 PLATE XII. 



Rallus crex, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 261 (1766). 



Crex pratensis, Bechst., Macgill. Brit. B. vi. p, 527 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. 



p. 291, pi. 499 (1878) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 157 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. 



Brit. B. ii. p. 535 (1884) ; Lilforcl, Col. Fig. Brit. B., pt. 14 (1890) ; Dixon, Nests 



and Eggs British B. p. 334 (1893 ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 83, pi. 22 



(1896). 

 Crex crex (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 82 (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. 



Gt. Brit. iv. p. 220 (1897). 



Geographical distribution. British: The Corn Crake is generally 

 distributed during summer throughout the British Islands, extending even to the 

 Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands, and the Channel Islands. It is an 

 occasional visitor to St. Kilda. Its numbers locally vary considerably. Foreign : 

 West Palaearctic region, summer ; Ethiopian region, winter. It is an occasional 

 summer visitor to the Faroes. It breeds in Scandinavia as far north as the Arctic 

 circle, and has been obtained even three degrees higher. In West Eussia it does 

 not appear to range north of Archangel (lat. 64 32' N.) ; in East Eussia not 

 beyond lat. 60. Eastwards it is common in the Altai Mountains, and in the 

 valley of the Yenisei ranges as far north as lat. 59^. Its eastern limit appears to 

 be the valley of the Lena. Although of only accidental occurrence in North-west 

 India, it is common in Afghanistan, and has been found in North Persia. It is a 

 common visitor to Eussiaii Turkestan and the Caucasus ; is said to be resident in 

 Palestine and Asia Minor; but is only known on passage in Egypt, and is resident 

 in Algeria. It also breeds throughout Central Europe and Southern Europe, with 

 the exception of the Spanish Peninsula, Southern Italy, and Greece, where it is 

 known on passage only. It winters in Africa in the Intertropical realm, and is 

 occasionally found at that season in the Transvaal and the Cape Colony as an 

 abnormal migrant. The Corn Crake is a great wanderer, and is an accidental 

 visitor to the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores, and even to the Bermudas, the 

 east coast of the United States, Greenland, Australia (Records, Aiist. Afw.s. ii. 

 p. 82) and, it is said, New Zealand. 



Allied forms None very closely related. 



