3*5 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Family RALLIDsE. 



THE CORN-CRAKE. 



Crex pratensis, BECHST. 



THE Corn-Crake, or Land-Rail, is a summer migrant, coming to this country 

 in April for the nesting season, usually leaving in October. It is very 

 generally distributed throughout the whole of the United Kingdom ; and, like the 

 Quail and other migratory species, it occasionally remains in this country 

 throughout the entire winter, more especially in Ireland, where the cold is less 

 severe than in Great Britain. In that country it has occasionally been found in 

 a comatose condition during the winter, for Sir Ralph Payne-Galwey, in the 

 " Fowler in Ireland," states that he has twice found Land- Rails, apparently asleep, 

 in February, in hollows in loose stone walls near the ground ; and Mr. Reeves, 

 of Queen's County, has also found them in the same condition in rabbit holes, in 

 February. The Corn-Crake is generally distributed throughout central Europe 

 and Russia, south of the Baltic, but in the southern parts it appears chiefly as a 

 bird of passage. To the eastward it extends as far as Northern India. 



The Corn-Crake is much better known to the inhabitants of this country by 

 its voice than by its appearance. It frequents cultivated districts and low-lands, 

 preferring meadows and fields where the ground is open and there are but few 

 bushes or trees, showing a strong partiality for clover fields. As soon as it arrives 

 in the spring its well-known harsh voice, uttering 'the syllables krek, krek, may 

 be heard in most parts of the country. It is commonly supposed to possess 

 ventriloquial powers, as it is most difficult to judge of the position of the bird from 

 its voice, which varies at short intervals from a very loud to a soft note, some- 

 times appearing quite close and at other times a considerable distance, and has 

 been described as an unseen mysterious creature that seems to be possessed of the 

 power of being in different places at the same time. 



The Corn-Crake is an exceedingly shy bird, always endeavouring to evade 

 observation, and its peculiar form enables it to pass readily amongst the grass 

 and corn, rarely taking wing, but preferring to seek safety on foot. It is rarely, 

 in fact, to be seen unless searched for with dogs, although Lord Lilford says that 

 in the west of Ireland he has more than once seen one or two of them running 



