156 BIRDS' NESTS 



life — another proof that similarity of nest-type is very 

 often due to analogy and not to affinity. The nest of 

 the well-known Corn Crake {Crex pratensis) demands 

 a few special words of description. The haunts of 

 this species differ considerably from those usually 

 frequented by birds in the present order, and the 

 nest just as unerringly reflects the fact. Corn Crakes 

 generally resort to dry ground for breeding purposes, 

 making their nests in meadow grass or amongst fields 

 of growing grain. Aquatic vegetation is therefore 

 discarded in their architecture, and the bird forms a 

 well-made nest of dry grass, bits of moss and a few 

 dead leaves, about as big as an ordinary soup plate. 

 The cavity is remarkably neatly lined with the finest 

 grass, much of it half green. Then as an instance of 

 adaptability we may mention the home of the Moorhen 

 {Gallinula chloropus). The nest of this bird may either 

 be a floating raft at some distance from the bank on 

 deep water amongst reeds and flags, or on dry ground 

 under brambles and coarse vegetation ; or it may even 

 be built many feet above the ground in the branches 

 of trees or placed on a flat branch close to the water, 

 in either case being safe from any sudden rising of the 

 pool. Rails are frequently known to add materials to 

 their nests after the eggs have been laid — a habit 

 common to not a few aquatic species, this means 

 being adopted to prevent waste from the action of the 

 water and to increase the stability of the structure. 

 Of the nidification of the Finfoots (Heliornithidae) 



