189 GRALLATORES. CREX. CRAKE, 



Devonshire on the 14th of March, and having seen it in au- 

 tumn as late as the 23d of October. Though not numerous, 

 these birds are rather generally disseminated throughout 

 England, in such localities as accord with their habits ; and 

 I have also found them in various parts of Scotland, al- 

 though MONTAGU states, that, in his time, the species had 

 not been observed farther to the northward than Cumber- 

 land. Their haunts are the margins of pools and rivulets, 

 overgrown with reeds, sedges, and other thick herbage, as 

 well as more extensive marshy grounds ; and, as in habits 

 strongly resembling their nearly allied congeners, they are 

 rarely seen unless expressly sought after. By the aid of a 

 dog accustomed to pursue these birds, I have (in the au- 

 tumn, just previous to their departure) sometimes^w^d as 

 many as six in a large morass in my neighbourhood, the ma- 

 jority of which were generally young birds of the year. The 

 flight of the Spotted Crake is similar to that of the others, 

 and of the Rail, from the latter of which, owing to its dark- 

 ness of colour, it is difficult to be distinguished when on wing. 

 Nest, &c. Its nest is built amongst the thick sedges and reeds of the 

 marshes, and from the foundation of it being frequently 

 placed in water, is composed of a large mass of decayed 

 aquatic plants interlaced, with the hollow neatly formed and 

 comfortably lined. The eggs are eight or ten, of a yellow- 

 ish-grey colour, with a tinge of pink, and with round spots 

 of umber-brown of various sizes, and with others of a lighter 

 shade, appearing to be (as it were) beneath the exterior shell. 

 In magnitude the eggs equal those of a Missel Thrush. It 

 Food, feeds on worms, aquatic insects, slugs, seeds, &c. ; and its 

 flesh, like that of the Meadow Crake, is sweet and well-fla- 

 voured. In autumn it becomes loaded with fat, a layer of 

 nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness covering the whole 

 surface of its body. The species is widely distributed 

 through Europe, particularly in the southern and eastern 

 parts, and is also found in Northern Asia. 



