BAILLON'S CRAKE. 109 



the same parts in the males ; nor are the white spots so 

 numerous ; the chin white ; legs, toes, and claws, in the 

 preserved specimen pale brown ; all the other parts as in 

 the adult male. 



The whole length six inches and a half. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing four inches ; the first 

 and the sixth quill-feathers equal in length, and shorter 

 than the fourth or the fifth ; the second and third feathers 

 equal in length, and the longest in the wing : the length of 

 the tarsus one inch and one eighth; the length of the 

 middle toe and claw one inch and five-eighths. 



The young male belonging to Dr. Thackeray, the use of 

 which has been allowed me for this work, and which was 

 killed in the month of January, is to all appearance a bird 

 of the previous season, not having quite attained the 

 mature plumage, the chin being still greyish white, and 

 the lead-grey colour of the front of the neck, breast, and 

 belly being varied with patches of pale buffy brown and 

 bars of greyish white. In still younger birds, before their 

 first autumn moult, the neck, breast, and under parts are 

 pale buffy white mixed with light brown. 



There is reason to suspect that the Little Crake and 

 Baillon's Crake have been sometimes confounded. As 

 particular marks of distinction, it may be mentioned, that 

 the Little Crake exhibits but a few white marks on the 

 centre of the back, and sometimes on the scapulars, but 

 never on the wing-coverts ; in Baillon^s Crake, on the 

 contrary, these white marks are very numerous, occupying 

 several distinct situations, namely, the central space on the 

 back, the scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertial feathers on 

 both sides. 



