372 SUMMER. 



through the nearest opening, and is in the middle of 

 its own field craking away as if it had met with no an- 

 noyance, almost before one is aware. When we con- 

 sider the close and heavy nature of the covers in which 

 they are found, we are disposed to conclude that the 

 means which the crake has of escape from its enemies, 

 are superior to those of any other running animal ; and 

 equal on the ground to what the evolutions of the lap- 

 wing are in the air. 



But, notwithstanding its manoeuvres, the crake may be 

 decoyed by the imitation of its love note. That note is 

 a rolling sound not unlike what is produced by drawing 

 a bit of stick rapidly across the bars of a very close 

 railing, or the teeth of a rake, or even the finger along 

 the points of the teeth of a comb. The birds will ap- 

 proach that sound uttering one in imitation of it; 

 though they do so readily only in the early part of the 

 season, and before they have begun to utter their watch 

 notes. 



Notwithstanding its comparative invisibility, from the 

 nature of the cover that it selects, and the art with 

 which it eludes observation and baffles pursuit, the 

 crake is by no means a small bird. The length is about 

 ten or eleven inches, the breadth eighteen or nineteen, 

 and the weight from six ounces and a half to seven 

 ounces. The colour of the bird is not unlike the half- 

 dried earth among the roots of the vegetation where it 

 takes up its abode ; the feathers on the upper part are 

 blackish brown with margins of dull yellow ; and those 

 on the under part are dull white with a reddish tinge. 

 The wing covers and wings are of a rust colour ; the 

 chin pale, and the cheeks ash gray. The bill and legs 



