1S4 GRALLATORES. CREX. CRAKE. 



fastened to the reeds, and is formed of decayed sedge and 

 aquatic weeds entwined and matted together. The eggs are 

 eight or ten in number, of a greyish- white, spotted with yel- 

 lowish-brown, and rounded at both ends. The food of this 

 species is similar to that of its congeners, viz. worms, slugs, 

 insects, and sometimes vegetables and seeds. 



PLATE 30. Fig. 3. Represents this bird of the natural size, 

 from a specimen caught near Melbourne, in Cambridge- 

 shire, and now in the possession of the Rev. Dr 

 T HACKERY, Provost of King's College, Cambridge. 

 General Bill dark olive-green, thicker and shorter than that of 

 tk> S n riP " Crex pusilla. Crown of the head, and back part of 

 the neck, wood-brown. Throat and fore part of the 

 neck, cheeks, breast, and belly, bluish-grey, with a few 

 undulations of brown upon the breast, indicative of a 

 young bird. Flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts grey- 

 ish-black, barred with white. Upper parts yellowish- 

 brown, tinged with oil-green, and marbled with irregu- 

 lar spots of white, each being surrounded by a narrow 

 border of black. Outer web of the first quill-feather 

 margined with white. Legs and toes yellowish-brown, 

 tinged with flesh-red. Irides reddish-brown. 

 An adult male in my possession has the chin and throat 

 pearl-grey ; the forehead, cheeks, sides, and fore part 

 of the neck, breast, and belly, plain bluish-grey ; 

 thighs, abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts greyish- 

 black, barred with white. Crown of the head, and hind 

 part of the neck, yellowish-brown, with the shafts of the 

 feathers darker. Down the centre of the back is a 

 broad black list, varied with irregular spots of white. 

 The scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts yellowish- 

 brown, tinged with oil-green, and varied with white 

 spots and streaks, surrounded, or else barred, with 

 black. 



