166 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



frightened, although not hurt, that it entirely lost its presence of mind, as the Water 

 Hen sometimes does under similar circumstances. 



At all times of the day, but more especially in the early morning, and towards twi- 

 light, it utters its singular and well-known cry, resembUng the syllables cTekf crek, 

 repeated at short intervals, and often continuing for many minutes, probably a quar- 

 ter of an hour or more, if the bird is not disturbed. It has the reputation of being 

 an expert ventriloquist, and whether or not it deserves that title, it is certain that one 

 is very apt to be mistaken as to the spot in which the bird is when he listens to its 

 cry, which is at one time loud, at another low, now seems to indicate a close proxi- 

 mity, now a remote position, and even appears to come from various directions. I 

 have heard the Thrush and the Robin so sing, close at hand, that I imagined them to 

 be far away, and it is probable that other birds have the same faculty, which seems to 

 depend upon the elongation or contraction of the trachea. When uttering its cry, the 

 Corn Crake usually remains still, standing with its neck considerably drawn in. I 

 have watched it so employed through a hole in a wall. But I have also often seen it 

 walk leisurely along at the time. As to its neck being '••' stretched, perpendicularly 

 upwards," as alleged by Mr Selby, it may perhaps sometimes be so, but not usually. 

 At the period when the nights are shortest, 1 have heard it commence its cry so early 

 as one in the morning. 



Although not gaudily attired, the Corn Crake is richly coloured, and when ob- 

 served in its wild haunts, has an appearance of great elegance. It moves in a grace- 

 ful manner, and when proceeding leisurely, walks with what might be called sedate- 

 ness, Hfting its feet rather high, jerking up its short tail, and bending its neck back- 

 wards and forwards at every step, like the Water Hen. If alarmed, either while 

 walking, or while uttering its cry, it instantly ceases, stands still or crouches, and if 

 it judges it expedient, starts ofp, throwing its neck out and its body forwaid. It is 

 not gregarious at any period of its residence with us, although in favourable situations, 

 such as extensive meadows, many individuals may sometimes be found not far from 

 each other. Its food consists of worms, testaceous mollusca, and insects, especially 

 lepidoptera. 



Soon after its arrival, it begins to form its nest, which Is composed of a few straws, 

 laid in a slight hollow, among corn, or herbage of any kind. The eggs, which are 

 of an elongated oval form, and of a light or cream-colour, pale greyish -yellow, patched, 

 spotted, and dotted with umber or brownish-red and light purplish blue or grey, are 

 generally about ten, or from eight to twelve. In colour they bear a remarkable re- 

 semblance to those of the Missel Thrush. Their average length is two inches and 

 one-twelfth; their greatest breadth an inch and five-twelfths. The young are at first 

 covered with long hair-like down of a blackish colour, and leave tho nest immediately 

 after they burst the shell, to follow their mother among the grass or corn. When 

 only a few days old, they run with amazing celerity, and scatter about, so that 

 when one falls in with a flock, it is very difficult to catch more than one or two of 

 them. On such an occasion, I have seen the old bird come up and run about in 

 great distress. 



Towards the middle of July, the Crake ceases to utter its cry, and one might sup- 

 pose that it then leaves the country ; but the period of its departure is protracted to 

 the beginning of September. I have seen young birds in the end of that month, and 

 instances of their having been shot in winter have occurred in various parts of the 

 country. 



The flesh of (his bird is white, and affords delicate eating ; but this sort of game is 

 not easily obtained in the more highly cultivated tracts. In the Hebrides and "West 

 Highlands, however, few birds are more common, insomuch that there is hardly a 

 patch of yellow iris or meadow-sweet, of the nettle, dock, or other tall weed, in which 

 a Crake or two may not be found. Its cry may be so successfully imitated by draw- 

 ing an edged stick along the teeth of a comb, or a thin piece of bone along another 

 which has been notched by a saw, that by this artifice the bird will sometimes be induced 

 to come up. Pennant and Montagu state that on its first arrival it is very lean, but 

 before its departure becomes excessively fat. I have never, however, seen any great 

 difference in this respect, birds obtained early in the season being in as good condi- 

 tion as afterwards. 



. The young, when fully fledged, differ from the old birds chiefly in wanting the bluish- 

 grey markings on the head and neck. Individuals are often seen so late as the 

 end of September, and a very few instances of their having been shot in winter have 

 occurred. 



THE PARROT GROSBEAK. 



Having in our possession specimens of this vei-y rare bird, which has not yet been 

 minutely described, we have thought it may prove interesting to our ornithological 

 readers to present an account of it. The genus Psittirostra is composed of a single 

 species, about the size of Loxia curvirostra, which it resembles in form and propor- 

 tions, differing, however, in the bill, which approximates more to that of Corythus 

 Enucleator. It is precisely intermediate between the genera Loxia and Cory-- 

 thus. 



The bill is short, and very robust ; the upper mandible has its dorsal line curved 

 from the base into the fourth of a circle, the ridge narrow, the nasal sinus short and 

 rounded, the sides convex and much declined, the edges sharp, overlapping, inclinate 

 at the base, decurved, destitute of notch, the tip descending much beyond that of the 

 lower mandible, trigonal, and acute ; the lower mandible with the angle rather short 

 and rounded, the dorsal line ascending and very convex, the sides of the crura erect, 

 towards the end convex, the edges sharp and somewhat inclinate, the tip broad and 

 rounded, but with a narrowed slightly ascending point. 



The nostrils are basal, small, half closed by a horny operculum, and partially con- 

 cealed by short feathers. Aperture of eyes of moderate size ; eyelids feathered. Aper- 

 ture of ear rather large, and roundish. 



The head is large, and roundish-ovate ; the neck short ; the body moderately stout. 

 The feet are rather short, and of moderate strength j the tarsu? short, compressed, 

 with seven scutella in front, and two lateral plates meeting behind so as to form a 

 sharp edge ; toes four, moderate, compressed ; the first stout, the lateral about eijual. 



the third much longer ; the third and fourth united at the base ; claws rather large, 

 arched, much compressed, very acute, laterally grooved. 



Plumage soft and blended ; the feathers ovate and rounded ; those on the forepart 

 of the head very short. Wings of moderate length, broad, somewhat rounded ; pri- 

 mary quills nine, the first being obsolete, the second longer than the sixth, the third 

 longest, but scarcely exceeding the fourth, the fifth considerably shorter ; secondary 

 quills ten, broad and rounded, the inner short. Tail rather short, emarginate, of 

 twelve moderately firm, obliquely rounded feathers. 



This genus differs from Corythus in having the bill larger and higher, with the up- 

 per mandible more elongated, and the lower more convex and lounded ; from Loxia 

 in not having the tips compressed and laterally divaricate. It was instituted by Tem- 

 minck, from Loxia psittacea of Gmelin and Latham, and is appropriately named, the 

 bill having a great resemblance to that of a Parrot, 



Psittirostra psittacea. Parroquet ParrotbilL 



Male.- — The bill and feet are light brown. The head and neck yellow ; the upper 

 parts olive-green, tinged with grey ; the wings and tail blackish -brown ; the first row 

 of small coverts, and the secondary coverts, tipped with whitish, the quills and tail- 

 feathers margined with light greenish-grey. The throat is greyish-white, the sides 

 of the neck and body light brownish-grey, the middle of the breast and abdomen yel- 

 low ; the lower wing-coverts and tail-coverts white. 



Length to end of tail 7 inches ; bill along the ridge 7^ lines, along the edge of lower 

 mandible 7^ lines; wing from cubitus 3| inchei; tail 2^; tarsus 10^ lines; hind 

 toe 4^ lines, its claw 6 lines ; middle toe 8 lines, its claw 4 lines. 



Female. — The bill and feet are as in the male ; all the upper parts are olive-green 

 tinged with grey ; the throat whitish ; the cheeks, sides of the neck and body, light 

 grey ; the other parts as in the male. The size is somewhat smaller. 



M. Temminck having stated that the first quill is wanting, ]\Ir Swainson, not 

 having a specimen, remarks that this requires explanation. The Parrotbill is not sin- 

 gular in this respect, for all those passerine birds of which the outer quill is as long 

 as the next or nearly so, are equally destitute of the first quill, these species 

 having only nine primaries. I am not aware of this fact having hitherto been ob- 

 served. 



GEOLOGY. 



Lake op Arendsee. — Near Arendsee, in the circle of Magdeburg, there is a re- 

 markable lake of the considerable extent of about a German square mile, or about 

 eighteen English square miles. It has been formed in a flat country, within the his- 

 torical times, probably by the superficial strata sinking into an immense cavern exca- 

 vated by subterraneous currents of water. According to Aimonius, this event appears 

 to have taken place about a thousand years ago. The lake was considered as unfa- 

 thomable, and within the memory of man it never had been frozen, the great depth 

 of its water preventing the latter from taking a sufficiently low temperature through 

 that severity and duration of frost which the winters of Northern Germany common- 

 ly present. Last winter, however, this rare phenomenon did occur, long after the 

 greatest rivers had been covered with a solid crust ; and after having spent its free 

 caloric in large masses of vapour, which for many days hovered over its surface and 

 banks, the morning of the 31st of January exhibited it all covered with one smooth 

 and polished plate of ice. The thickness of the latter was nine inches, and in a few 

 places not above four or five inches. This was a convenient opportunity for taking 

 accurate measurements of the depth of the lake, and it was then first ascertained that 

 the opinion of its being unfathomable is unfounded. The general depth does not ex- 

 ceed 157 feet, only near the ruins of an old convent, at a distance of 400 steps from 

 the bank, it was found as deep as 161 feet, which may be taken for its greatest depth. 

 Beginning from the south bank, at a place where a large piece of ground sunk in 

 1685, the depth increased within distances of 400 steps each, at the following rate : 

 — 42^ feet, 87, 116, 137, 157. Among the many remarkable phenomena presented 

 by this lake, the one that it throws out yellow amber is, perhaps, the most striking. 

 This substance is only found on its eastern bank, and the more violently the west 

 winds blow, the more yellow amber is there collected. The size of the fragments 

 does not, however, generally exceed that of a French bean. As the whole tract of 

 Magdeburg to the Baltic Sea is pretty uniform, we may conclude that in one of its 

 strata it contains an almost continuous bed of yellow amber, which on the shores of 

 the Baltic is exposed in a great part of its length, whereas near Arendsee it has been 

 accidentally opened by the sinking of the ground. Many petrifactions of wood and 



