218 AVES GRALLATORES. [CREX. 



DESCRIPT. All the upper parts dusky brown, the feathers broadly 

 margined with reddish ash ; over each eye a broad cinereous streak, pro- 

 longed down the sides of the head and neck ; wing-coverts ferruginous 

 brown ; quills reddish brown, tinged with gray : under parts yellowish 

 white, tinged with cinereous, passing into pale yellowish brown on the 

 breast ; flanks and under tail-coverts with transverse bars of pale orange- 

 brown : upper mandible of the bill brown ; lower mandible whitish : irides 

 pale brown: legs yellowish brown, tinged with gray. (Egg.) Pale red- 

 dish white, spotted and speckled with ash-gray and pale red brown : long, 

 diam. one inch six lines ; trans, diam. one inch one line. 



A regular summer visitant, appearing about the latter end of April, 

 and departing in October, Is pretty generally distributed throughout the 

 kingdom, though said to be most plentiful in the northern parts of it, and 

 in Ireland. Frequents cornfields and meadows, particularly such as are 

 in the neighbourhood of water. Nest on the ground, generally in high 

 grass, rudely constructed of moss and a few dry plants. Eggs from 

 seven to twelve in number, laid the middle of June. During the breed- 

 ing season, the male is heard to utter a singular noise resembling the 

 word Crex, frequently repeated. Food, insects, worms, and snails ; also 

 seeds and aquatic vegetables. 



217. C. Porzana, Selby. (Spotted Crake.) Above 

 olive-brown, with dusky streaks and white spots; beneath 

 cinereous olive, spotted with white. 



Gallinula Porzana, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 688. Spotted 

 Crake, Selb. Illust. vol. 11. p. 179. pi. 30*. f. 1, & 2. Spotted 

 Gallinule, Mont. Orn. Diet. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. n. p. 132. 



DIMENS. Entire length nine inches : length of the bill (from the fore- 

 head) nine lines and a quarter, (from the gape) ten lines and a half; of 

 the tarsus one inch four lines and a half; of the naked part of the tibia 

 six lines ; of the middle toe, claw included, one inch eight lines ; of the 

 tail two inches ; from the carpus to the end of the wing four inches eight 

 lines ; breadth, wings extended, fifteen inches two lines. 



DESCRIPT. (Adult male.) Crown of the head, back, scapulars and rump, 

 olive-brown, with a dusky spot in the middle of each feather, all except 

 the first elegantly spotted and streaked with pure white: forehead, throat, 

 and a broad streak above the eyes, ash-gray, the latter speckled with 

 white ; nape thickly spotted with black and white ; cheeks cinereous, 

 speckled with black ; fore part of the neck and breast pale olivaceous, 

 tinged with ash-gray, and spotted with white ; belly and vent cinereous 

 white; flanks marked with transverse bars of white, black, and oliva- 

 ceous brown: quills brown: wing-coverts olivaceous brown, sparingly 

 spotted with white : bill greenish yellow, passing into orange-yellow 

 at the base : irides reddish hazel : legs and toes yellowish green. In 

 the female, the cheeks have a reddish tinge, and are speckled with 

 brown. (Egg.) Pale reddish white, spotted and speckled with dark 

 red brown : long. diam. one inch three lines ; trans, diam. eleven lines. 



Sparingly distributed over many parts of the kingdom, frequenting 

 marshes, the banks of rivers, and other watery places. Is usually con- 

 sidered as a migratory species, retiring at the approach of Winter, but 

 it is highly probable that many individuals remain with us throughout 

 the year. It is certainly to be met with from early in March to the 

 middle of November. Is fond of concealing itself in the thickest covert, 



