THE CORN-CRAKE. 215 



the annual liegira of the storks. In a well-known passage 

 Thomson elaborately details the preparations of the birds 

 for their long aerial expedition, and the circumstances of 

 their departure. He says : — 



" Where the Rhine loses its majestic force 

 In Belgian plains, won from the raging deep 

 By diligence amazing, and the strong 

 Unconquerable hand of liberty, 

 The stork assembly meet ; for many a day 

 Consulting deep and various, ere they take 

 Their arduous voyage through the liquid sky. 

 And now their route designed, their leaders chose, 

 Their tribes adjusted, cleaned their vigorous wings; 

 And many a circle, many a short essay. 

 Wheeled round and round in congregation full, 

 The figured flight ascends, and riding high. 

 The aerial billow mixes with the clouds." 



We shall now notice more briefly a few other genera of 

 game and water-birds which belong to Temperate Europe. 



Most country dwellers, or summer visitors to the coun- 

 try, in their wanderings over meadow and cornfield will 

 have heard the peculiar cry of the Corn-crake, which re- 

 sembles the syllables crek, crek, repeated at short intervals, 

 and continued for fifteen to twenty minutes. 



This shy and little seen though often heard summer- 

 guest, — it arrives in April, and leaves in September, — is 

 reputed to be an expert ventriloquist, and, as Macgillivray 

 says, whether or not it deserves the reputation, those who 

 hear its cry are very apt to be mistaken as to its actual 

 position ; for, at one time loud, at another low, it now 

 seems to indicate a close proximity, now a considerable 

 remoteness, and even appears to come from various direc- 

 tions. When uttering its cry, the bird usually stands 

 still, with its neck considerably drawn in. 



