NEST OF L.\XDRAIL. 173 



once three brace of them. Partridges were also nume- 

 rous there, and on the 5th of September the baronet 

 and two friends shot eighteen brace, which may be con- 

 sidered a good day's sport for Shropshire. The party 

 were not out more than four or five hours, and found 

 the birds strong and wild ; but this season was allowed 

 by sportsmen to have been the most favourable for the 

 breed of partridges that had been known for the last 

 twenty years, the heat having been excessive during the 

 months of July and August. 



Pennant says that the landrail lays from twelve to 

 twenty eggs, of a dull white, marked with a few yellow 

 spots ; but, according to Latham and Buffon, the number 

 of eggs does not exceed twelve, which are larger than 

 those of the quail and more coloured, are an inch and 

 a half in length, and not unlike those of the missel 

 thrush, being of a reddish cinereous white, marked with 

 ferruginous blotches, -svith a few indistinct ones of a pale 

 reddish ash colour. The nest is negligently made with 

 a little moss or dry grass, and placed generally in a 

 hollow where the grass is thickest. The young crakes 

 are covered with a black down, and run about as soon as 

 they burst the shell, following their mothers ; but quit not 

 the meadow until the scythe sweeps away their habita- 

 tion. They then shelter themselves amongst buck- 

 wheat, oats, and very frequently in clover seed, and in 

 waste grounds overspread with broom ; a few return to 

 the meadows at the end of the season. There is little 

 difficulty in ascertaining when a dog scents a landrail, 

 from his keen search and the tenacity with which the 

 bird perseveres in keeping the ground ; they will take 

 to the wing speedily when first found, but to get them 

 up a second time is no easy task, and they will then lie 



