442 Rallidce. 



he himself shot one on November 12th; and in 1883, on 

 November 23rd, his retriever caught an old bird, and in very 

 good condition, one of whose wings had been previously slightly 

 injured. 



168. SPOTTED CRAKE (Crex porzana). 



Though not in reality uncommon, this sombre-clad little 

 species is so retiring and timid in its nature, and seeks such 

 little-frequented, quiet ponds for its haunts, that it escapes 

 observation, and is supposed by many to be a rarer bird than it 

 really is. I have heard of several in Wiltshire : the late Rev. G. 

 Marsh killed one in some marshy ground at Christian Malford in 

 October, 1849 ; Mr. MacNiven, junior, shot another at Patney 

 about 1871 ; and the Rev. A. P. Morres records the capture of 

 several in South Wilts. ' In the autumn of 18G9 a pair were killed 

 at Hinks Mill pond, in the parish of Mere, by Mr. Forward ; and 

 in the very same field another specimen was killed on October 

 12th, 1878. In 1873 one was picked up dead at Gillingham, 

 having been killed by flying against the telegraph-wires; and 

 another met its fate in the same year and in the same way near 

 Westbury. In 1879 a friend brought me a wing of this bird, for 

 identification, which had also been picked up under the wires 

 near Salisbury, and which had been apparently quite severed 

 from the body by the force of the concussion ; and these three 

 occurrences happening so near together would certainly prove 

 the bird to be more numerous than is generally supposed, for 

 none of these three specimens would, in all probability, have been 

 heard of had it not been for their singular misfortune. In addi- 

 tion to all these instances, Mr. Baker reports that a nest containing 

 twelve eggs was put out in a clover-field adjoining a marsh beside 

 the stream at Mere, and that he sent up one of the eggs to 

 the Field office, where it was pronounced a genuine egg of 

 C. porzana* Lord Heytesbury wrote me word that one was 

 killed by one of his grandsons on his estate last year (1886) ; Mr. 

 W. Wyndham that he shot one at Dinton on October 25th, 1875. 

 See Field of June 18th, 1881, ' Natural History Notes.' 



