PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 561 



records from Russia and Finland, and it has occurred north to Helsingfors in 

 Finland, and St. Petersburg, Moscow, Simbirsk, and Orenburg in Russia. South- 

 ward it occurs in suitable localities to the Mediterranean, as well as in Sardinia 

 and Sicily. In North Africa it breeds from Marocco to Tunisia, and also in Egypt, 

 while in Asia it is found in Asia Minor and Transcaspia, but its eastern limits are 

 as yet uncertain, and it is apparently replaced by allied forms in Turkestan and 

 Central to North-east Siberia. During the winter, northern birds migrate to North 

 Africa, Abyssinia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the Himalayas. It visits the Faeroes, 

 and has occurred on Jan Mayen. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. Found all the year round in our area, but both emigra- 

 tion and immigration occur in autumn, with corresponding return journeys in 

 spring. Immigration from Northern Europe takes place on the east coast of 

 Great Britain, from late September to early November (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 

 1907, p. 542). Southward emigration is believed to take place from Ireland as 

 weU as from England (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 242). The 

 retiring habits of the species render a more exact knowledge of its movements 

 very difficult to obtain. A nocturnal traveller. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The nest is almost always carefully concealed in 

 swamps and marshes ; sometimes in a tussock growing in the water, or in aquatic 

 herbage, osier beds, or among dead and growing reeds ; and is built of dead leaves 

 of flags, reeds, sedge, and other plants, lined with rather flat leaves, and fairly neatly 

 rounded. (PI. Lvm.) The share of the sexes in building appears not to be recorded. 

 The eggs are usually 7 to 11 or 12 in number, and bear a considerable likeness 

 to those of the landrail, but the ground is rather lighter, and they are generally 

 more sparingly marked. The ground-colour is creamy white with a few ashy 

 shellmarks and rather small red-brown spots, chiefly at the big end, but a rare 

 type has very bold blotches of red-brown, with a purplish tinge. (PL N.) 

 Average size of 46 eggs, 1'37 x 1-02 in. [35 x 26'1 mm.]. Incubation is shared by 

 both sexes, the chief part being taken by the hen (E. L. Turner), but the 

 duration of the period has apparently not been ascertained. The first eggs are 

 laid in England at the beginning of April, and full clutches may be obtained 

 from 7th April onward, but as a rule a week or two later. There is little doubt 

 that two broods are usually reared, for fresh eggs are not infrequently found 

 in Norfolk in June and early in July. In Germany the breeding season is 

 rather later than in England, and eggs are rarely taken till towards the end of 

 April. [F. c. R. j.] 



