542 BRITISH BIRDS. 



our visit to the district. The nests were large for the size of the bird, 

 and were built in clumps of rushes or amongst reeds ; they stood nearly 

 a foot above the level of the water, and were composed of flat leaves of the 

 reed, sedge, and other water-plants, and generally, when built in the reeds, 

 had a foundation of dead broken reed. The ^number of eggs varies 

 from eight to twelve ; they are usually laid in May or early in June. 

 They vary in ground-colour from buff to very pale greenish white, boldly 

 spotted and speckled with pale and dark brown, and with underlying mark- 

 ings of violet-grey ; the spots vary in size from that of a small pea to a 

 mere speck. Most eggs are finely dusted over the entire surface with these 

 small specks, amongst which the larger markings are somewhat evenly 

 dispersed. On some specimens most of the markings are at the large end, 

 where they sometimes form broad irregular streaks joining the larger 

 blotches together. On many eggs the underlying spots are as numerous as 

 the surface ones, sometimes more so, sometimes less. The eggs vary in 

 length from 1*4 to 1*2 inch, and in breadth from 1*0 to O9 inch. The 

 eggs of the Spotted Crake are the most distinct and the easiest to deter- 

 mine of all the British species of this group of birds. Their bold, large, 

 and distinct spots, and greenish tinge inside when held up to the light, 

 readily distinguish them from those of all European Crakes. The Spotted 

 Crake probably only rears one brood in the year ; but if the first eggs are 

 destroyed others, in many cases, are laid. 



The general colour of the upper parts of the adult Spotted Crake is olive- 

 brown, sometimes approaching russet-brown, each feather having a nearly 

 black centre, and most of them spotted on the margin with white. The 

 primaries and secondaries are brown, but the outer web of the first primary 

 is white. The lores are brown, the feathers above and below them being 

 very dark brown, and the ear-coverts are brown ; the forehead, a broad line 

 over each eye, the chin, throat, and breast are slate-grey, shading into white 

 on the centre of the belly, into brown on the flanks, and into buff on the 

 under tail-coverts. The breast is slightly suffused with brown, and the 

 cheeks and breast are spotted with white ; the under wing-coverts, axillaries, 

 and flanks are transversely barred with white, each spot and bar being 

 slightly emphasized with a margin of nearly black. Bill yellow, shading 

 into orange at the base ; legs, feet, and claws olive-green ; irides hazel. 



The female scarcely differs from the male in colour, and autumn plumage 

 very slightly differs from that of spring. Young in first plumage and birds 

 of the year after their first spring moult have all the slate-grey parts more 

 spotted with white, especially on the chin and upper throat ; and young in 

 first plumage have the dark centres of the feathers of the upper parts 

 smaller and less clearly de6ned. Young in down are black. 



