THE SPOTTED CRAKE. 31 



any of these Crakes, the country being too high and exposed for them." 



Its voice is a loud Kweet, which may be heard in the evening or at night. 

 The food, like the other birds of the genus, consists of aquatic insects, small 

 worms, snails, and larvae, and possibly occasionally tender shoots of water plants 

 and young grass seed. 



The nest of the Spotted Crake is always in a wet locality, and is generally 

 so placed that the bird can reach it only by swimming. It resembles that of the 

 Water-Rail, being an untidy structure of reeds and leaves of aquatic plants, lined 

 with finer material. It is always exceedingly difficult to find, being carefully 

 concealed amongst the reeds or in the long water grass, and is placed either on 

 the damp ground, or very often on a platform of broken down reeds, the bases of 

 which are in the water. The eggs are usually from nine to twelve in number, 

 and are laid during May or June. In ground colour they are warm ochreous, 

 marked with fine dots and blotches, which are tolerably regularly scattered over 

 the shell. 



It is singular that there should be a great difference of opinion 

 regarding the value of this bird as food, Mr. Booth says that when skilfully 

 dressed for the table, it is decidedly preferable to the Jack Snipe, whose flavour 

 is by many considered superior to that of the full Snipe ; whereas Messrs. D' Urban 

 and Mathew term the Spotted Crake as " being rank of flesh and unfit for the 

 table." But it is possible that this difference of opinion may arise from the birds 

 feeding on different substances, at various seasons, and in different localities. 



The coloration of this species is not very distinctive from that of the Corn 

 Crake, but the smaller size of the Spotted Crake, which is only about nine inches 

 in extreme length, at once serves to distinguish it from the more common and 

 less aquatic species from which it is readily known by its yellowish beak, which 

 is reddish at the base. The general colour of the plumage is hazel brown, spotted 

 profusely with white ; the feathers on the back have each a black centre, and the 

 margins are streaked with white ; the sides and flanks are barred with white. 

 The female is similar to the male, but slightly smaller, and duller in colours. The 

 young, when first hatched, are covered with very lustrous green-black down. Like 

 those of the whole group, they are active from the first, and take to the water 

 immediately after leaving the nest. 



Varieties of this species are not common, but Yarrell records one in which 

 the front part of the neck was of a bright rose colour. 



