CORN-CRAKE. 537 



laboured manner, and flutters along just above the ground with its long 

 legs hanging down, and pitches into the first cover it can reach, where it is 

 seldom flushed a second time. In spring it sometimes perches on the 

 hedges, especially if lured by a " call," as if the bird were anxious to get 

 at its rival at once. Sometimes, especially in early autumn, when the hay 

 is cut and the second crops of clover are scarcely tall enough to afford it 

 shelter, the Corn-Crake may be seen in the grass-fields. At this season, 

 when all the green cover has been laid low by the scythe, it often repairs 

 to the fields of standing corn, from which it comes to the adjoining 

 meadows to feed. Its feeding- time is in the early morning and at dusk. 

 It is very wary when on these open grasslands, and every now and then 

 lifts its head and stretches out its neck on the look out for danger. It 

 rarely ventures far from the hedges, and at the least alarm either crouches 

 close to the ground, or runs rapidly off through the hedge into the adjoin- 

 ing corn. The Corn-Crake is very fond of turnip-fields, and is as difficult 

 to flush in them as elsewhere, glimpses being occasionally obtained of it as 

 it runs across the ridges or pauses a moment in the open spaces. 



The note of the Corn-Crake is so well known and familiar that it scarcely 

 needs description. It is a very loud and harsh crek or crake uttered twice, 

 and then a brief pause before it is again repeated. It may be readily imitated 

 by drawing a knife-blade smartly across a stout comb, little skill being 

 required in the operation. By thus imitating its note, especially in spring, 

 the bird may be brought almost to the feet of the performer, if he remains 

 very quiet. This singular note is heard most commonly in early morning 

 and evening ; but the bird utters it at intervals throughout the day, and 

 it may be heard at all hours of the night. The Corn-Crake sometimes calls 

 as he flies, more frequently as he runs through the herbage, but generally 

 when he is standing quite still. The bird's keen sense of hearing, and the 

 rapidity of his retreat from the approach of an observer, has given rise to 

 the theory that he is a ventriloquist. But such is not the case. When a 

 high wind is blowing, great difficulty is sometimes experienced in making 

 out the direction whence the sound proceeds, as it sometimes sounds high 

 and close at hand, and anon appears faint and distant, as the breeze carries 

 it away or brings it close. The Corn-Crake does not call so frequently in 

 cold dull weather, and still less so during the period of incubation. The 

 song, if such it can be termed, ceases in the late summer, and it is rarely 

 heard again until the following spring. 



The food of the Corn-Crake is largely composed of worms, slugs, and 

 snails, together with many kinds of insects, especially beetles. The bird 

 also eats the tender shoots of herbage and the seeds of various grasses. 



The Corn-Crake pairs annually, shortly after its arrival on our shores, 

 but the eggs are not generally laid until the end of May or early in 

 June. The nest is usually built amongst the meadow-grass or clover, 



