768 PORZANA BAILLONI. 



many remain to breed in April. Lord Lilford found it nesting near Seville ; and Mr. Saunders likewise states 

 that it breeds in that neighbourhood, recording it also as common on the Siguera river. It extends into 

 Central Europe, and ranges as far north as Great Britain and Holland. It has bred in Great Britain, two 

 nests having been taken in Cambridgeshire in 1859; but it has, nevertheless, not extended to Ireland. 



In Morocco and Eastern Tangier, Mr. Tyrwkitt Drake observes that Baillon's Crake is rare ; and 

 Mons. Favier, as cited by Col. Irby, makes a similar remark. As an Egyptian bird Captain Shelley gives it 

 a place in his book solely on the evidence of Riippell, who states also that it occurs in Arabia. Mr. Gurney, 

 jun., obtained it at Laghouat in Algeria; and Von Heuglin met with it frequently in the Fayoom, generally 

 in pairs and at the beginning of May, from which he infers that it probably breeds there. Hartlaub records 

 it from Madagascar ; and in South Africa it is far from rare. Mr. Ayres met with it in the Transvaal in 

 January and April, and says it is common in Natal at Maritzburg ; while in Damara Land, on the opposite 

 coast, Mr. Andersson observed it frequently. Finally it has been recorded from Madeira. 



Habits. — Like most of the smaller Rails, this little bird affects concealment to such an extent that it is 

 difficult to flush it, unless it is suddenly frightened up while shooting Snipe or other Waders, or put on the 

 wing by a dog. It frequents small sedgy watercourses, marshes, and overgrown swamps. Mr. Hume says 

 that in India it may be " at times mistaken for a Quail. It is of much the same size, looks on the wing of 

 much the same colour, and takes short nights over the rushes, and drops suddenly just like a Quail." 



Mr. Davison writes that at Tavoy " a few frequented some canals overgrown with rank grass and wild 

 pine-apple. They were very difficult to obtain, as it was almost impossible to flush them from the cover in 

 which they lodged." Col. Irby also states that, owing to their skulking propensities, they are seldom obtained 

 in Spain. 



Von Heuglin noticed it principally frequenting tamarisk-scrub growing in shallow water; in the day- 

 time it was shy, rising on his approach, and taking refuge among the roots of thick and tangled vegetation, 

 from which it was difficult to drive it. In the mornings and evenings, however, it was to be seen moving 

 about in more open places, and now and then giving vent to its piping cry. He found its diet to consist of 

 worms, larvae, flies, and small snails. 



Mr. Ayres's experience of it is as follows : — " It inhabits the swamps and rushy pools, creeping amongst 

 the weeds and grass on the edges in search of food ; when disturbed it flies but a few yards, and drops 

 suddenly into the weeds almost before the gun can be got to the shoulder, and is therefore not very easy to 

 shoot. The morning is the best time to look for these birds." 



Nidification. — The Pygmy Rail breeds in the plains of Upper India in July and August, and, according to 

 Mr. Hume, in June and July in Kashmir and the valleys of the lower ranges of the Himalayas. A nest taken 

 by Messrs. Brooks and Hume at Etawah " was of rush and weed in the midst of grass and wild rice, veiy little 

 above the water's surface." It is often quite concealed by the surrounding grass. At Syree a similar nest to 

 the above was found, containing six eggs, which appear to be the usual number. 



The eggs are described as being oval, pointed towards one end ; of a pale olive stone-colour, freckled 

 and mottled with faint dusky clouds and streaks, most densely set towards the large end. They vary in length 

 from 1 - 1 to 1'12 by from 083 to 0'91 inch in breadth. Col. Howard Irby writes that they make a small nest, 

 in Spain, of sedges and grass placed at the edges of swamps, and that they lay from five to seven eggs, 

 olive-brown, spotted with darker brown. 



