LITTLE CRAKE. 185 



not during the winter. They appear to be summer 

 migrants. The body of this species of crake, like 

 that of the landrail, is so strongly compressed, that 

 when dead, and laid on its back on a table, it will 

 not remain in that position, but rolls over to one 

 side. 



LITTLE CRAKE.* 



A FEMALE specimen of this rare crake was caught 

 alive in the fields at the back of Barnwell, near 

 Cambridge, towards the end of March 1827.f Dr. 

 Thackeray, the Provost of King's College, into 

 whose collection it passed, informed me that, when 

 opened, the eggs were found to be in a forward 

 state. This indicates the species to be an early 

 breeder, and looks as if the present individual might 

 have bred in the neighbourhood, had it been suffered 

 to remain. 



MOORHEN.J 



MOORHENS occasionally build in trees. In one 

 instance that occurred in the park at Bottisham, I 

 found the nest constructed amongst the ivy encircling 

 a large elm which hung over the water's edge, at the 

 height of at least ten feet from the ground. 



These birds not unfrequently appear on the lawn 



* Crex pusilla, Selb. 



f As already recorded by Mr. Yarrell, in his British Birds, 

 vol. iii. p. 16. 



J Gallinula chloropus, Lath. 



