Nest, &c. 
Food. 
180 GRALLATORES. CREX. CRAKE. 
Devonshire on the 14th of March, and having seen it in au- 
tumn as late as the 23d of October. Though not numerous, 
these birds are rather generally disseminated throughout 
England, in such localities as accord with their habits; and 
I have also found them in various parts of Scotland, al- 
though Monracu states, that, in his time, the species had 
not been observed farther to the northward than Cumber- 
land. Their haunts are the margins of pools and rivulets, 
overgrown with reeds, sedges, and other thick herbage, as 
well as more extensive marshy grounds ; and, as in habits 
strongly resembling their nearly allied congeners, they are 
rarely seen unless expressly sought after. By the aid of a 
dog accustomed to pursue these birds, I have (in the au- 
tumn, just previous to their departure) sometimes flushed as 
many as six in a large morass in my neighbourhood, the ma- 
jority of which were generally young birds of the year. The 
flight of the Spotted Crake is similar to that of the others, 
and of the Rail,—from the latter of which, owing to its dark- 
ness of colour, it is difficult to be distinguished when on wing. 
—lIts nest is built amongst the thick sedges and reeds of the 
marshes, and from the foundation of it being frequently 
placed in water, is composed of a large mass of decayed 
aquatic plants interlaced, with the hollow neatly formed and 
comfortably lined. The eggs are eight or ten, of a yellow- 
ish-grey colour, with a tinge of pink, and with round spots 
of umber-brown of various sizes, and with others of a lighter 
shade, appearing to be (as it were) beneath the exterior shell. 
In magnitude the eggs equal those of a Missel Thrush.—It 
feeds on worms, aquatic insects, slugs, seeds, &c.; and its 
flesh, like that of the Meadow Crake, is sweet and well-fla- 
voured. In autumn it becomes loaded with fat, a layer ‘of 
nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness covering the whole 
surface of its body. The species is widely distributed 
through Europe, particularly in the southern and eastern 
parts, and is also found. in Northern Asia. 
