CRKX.] AVES GRALLATORES. 219 



amongst reeds and rushes, in which situations it is not easily roused. 

 Nest rudely constructed of aquatic plants, and said to float upon the 

 water. Eggs eight to twelve in number. Food, similar to that of the 

 last species. 



218. C. Baillonii, Selby. (Banian's Crake.) Upper 

 parts olivaceous red, with numerous white spots on the 

 back and wings: these last reaching to half the length 

 of the tail : bill green : legs flesh-colour. 



Gallinula Baillonii, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 692. Jard. and 

 Selb. Orn. pi. 15. Baillon's Crake, Selb. Illmt. vol. i. p. 182. 

 pi. 30*. f, 3. Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. xn. p. 228. pi. 27. 



DIMENS. Entire length seven inches : length of the bill (from the 

 forehead) eight lines, (from the gape) eight lines and a half; of the 

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

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

 one inch eight lines ; from the carpus to the end of the wing three 

 inches five lines. 



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

 wood-brown ; throat, cheeks, front and sides of the neck, breast and belly, 

 bluish gray : back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, yellowish brown, tinged 

 with olivaceous, and marked with numerous irregular white spots, each 

 surrounded by a black border : flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, 

 black, with narrow transverse white bars : bill dark green, thicker and 

 shorter than in the next species: irides reddish: legs and toes flesh- 

 colour. In the female the colours are the same, but of a paler tint. 

 (Young.) Throat, and middle of the belly, white, with transverse undu- 

 lations of cinereous and olivaceous brown ; flanks olivaceous, spotted with 

 white : upper parts as in the adult, but the white spots fewer in num- 

 ber : bill greenish brown. (Egg.) Light olive-brown, spotted with darker 

 brown : long. diam. one inch one line ; trans, diam. nine lines and a half. 



A rare and accidental visitant in this country. A specimen, caught 

 alive at Melbourne in Cambridgeshire, in January 1823, is now in the 

 collection of Dr Thackeray. According to Sheppard, it has also occurred 

 in Suffolk. Common in the southern and eastern parts of Europe. Fre- 

 quents the same situations as the last species. Food similar. Nest always 

 placed in the vicinity of water. Eggs seven or eight in number. 



219. C. pusilla, Selby. (Little Crake.) Upper parts 

 olivaceous with a few white streaks ; wings without spots, 

 reaching to the extremity of the tail : bill and legs sap- 

 green. 



Gallinula pusilla, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 690. Little Crake, 

 Selb. Illust. vol. n. p. 185. pi. 30*. f. 4. Little and Olivaceous 

 Gallinules, Mont. Orn. Diet. Supp. with figs. Little Gallinule, 

 Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. u. p. 134. 



DIMENS. Entire length seven inches nine lines : length of the bill 

 (from the forehead) eight lines and a half, (from the gape) nine lines ; of 

 the naked part of the tibia five lines ; of the tarsus one inckone line and 

 a half; of the middle toe, claw included, one inch seven lines ; of the tail 



