LOCOMOTION. 221 



hand : it often stops short and squats down; the dog 

 pushing eagerly forward overshoots the spot and 

 loses the trace ; the bird, it is said, profits by its 

 blunder, and runs back on its path ; nor does it 

 spring till driven to the last extremity, and then it 

 rises to a good height before it stretches onwards. 

 It flies heavily, and never to a great distance. It is 

 usually seen to alight, but in vain should we search 

 for it ; before the fowler has reached the spot the 

 bird has tripped off more than a hundred paces. 

 The fleetness of its feet compensates for the tardiness 

 of its wings : all its little excursions, its windings, and 

 its doublings, in the fields and meadows, are per- 

 formed by running *." 



A young corn-crake kept by Mr. Jewis, contrary to 

 the usual statement in books, u always seemed highly 

 delighted when water was placed for it. It would 

 swim, dive to the bottom, and play about with the 

 greatest apparent satisfaction, and with as much 

 activity as if it had never been used to any other ele- 

 ment. Its manners were peculiarly pleasing and in* 

 teresting, and its motions elegant. It ran with great 

 swiftness, with its head nearly to the ground. The 

 form of the corn-crake," he adds, '* seems admirably 

 calculated for the life it is intended to lead ; its sharp 

 compressed bill and narrow head are well adapted 

 for separating the grass, and opening a way for its 

 slender and gently swelling body ; by this means the 

 movement of the blades of grass is so small, that it is 

 enabled to make its way rapidly through the meadows 

 without being perceived, so that one moment it may 

 be close at hand, and in the next be at the far side of 

 the field, without its being able to discover in what 

 manner it has changed its situation f." 



The bird, however, most celebrated for fleetness of 



* Oiseaux, Art. Le Rale de Genet, 

 t Hort. Register, Nov. 1831, p, 218. 



Y3 



