ioo THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



Another, now in the collection of Mr. Ferryman, at 

 Datchet, was found dead one day in the spring of 1864 

 under the electric telegraph wires near the Slough 

 station, against which it must have flown with great 

 violence, its neck being gashed across. One was 

 taken near Newbury a few years ago ; this Crake 

 has also occurred at Datchet. It has been shot at 

 Maidenhead, and in the neighbourhood of High 

 Wycombe. The species has been frequently killed 

 on the banks of the Thames, where it is no doubt 

 far more common than is usually supposed, as, by 

 reason of its retiring habits, it is rarely seen in the 

 daytime. 



It usually arrives here in the beginning of April 

 or towards the end of March, leaving us again in 

 October. Water insects, seeds, and worms form 

 this bird's chief food. The following extract from 

 a letter from Mr. W. H. Power to Mr. J. E. Harting, 

 is extracted from the latter gentleman's work upon the 

 ' Birds of Middlesex :' 



'I shot one of these birds/ says Mr. Power, 'at 

 West Drayton, as it was crossing the river Colne, 

 which here divides the counties of Middlesex and 

 Buckinghamshire. My dog started it from an osier- 

 bed full of tall reeds, and I killed it under the im- 

 pression that it was a young Moor-hen. This was on 

 the 2d of August, 1860.' 



Mr. Harting justly claims this bird, and so do I ; 

 for it was shot on the borders of the two counties. 



