SPOTTED CRAKE. 



FULICARI^E. 



143 



RALLTD^E. 



PORZANA MARUETTA (Leach*). 



THE SPOTTED CKAKE. 



Crex porzana. 



PORZANA, Vieillot f . Beak shorter than the head, slightly higher than broad 

 at the base, compressed, tapering towards the point, nostrils linear and oblong, 

 the nasal groove reaching to the middle of the bill ; wings moderate and con- 

 cave : the second quill the longest ; tail short, rounded, the feathers narrow, 

 weak, and slightly curved ; tibia bare on the lower part ; tarsi short, scutellate 

 in front ; toes long and slender ; claws long, curved, and acutely tapering. 



THIS prettily marked bird is, like the Land Eail last 

 described, a summer visitor to this country. Mr. Lubbock 

 mentions its spring arrival in Norfolk as taking place with 

 great regularity between the 12th and 20th of March ; but 

 Mr. H. Stevenson says that of late years he has no record of 

 appearances earlier than the 21st of that month ; and a 

 female killed on 23rd March, 1866, at Ludham, was then 

 forward in egg. From the first week in May to the end 

 of that month appears, however, to be the usual time for 



* Ortygometra porzana, Leach, Syst. Cat. M. & B. Brit. Mus. p. 34 (1816). 

 t Analyse d'une nouv. Ornithologie e"lementaire, p. 61 (1816). 



