LITTLE CRAKE. 547 



CREX PARVA. 

 LITTLE CRAKE. 



(Plate 23.) 



Rallus parvus, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 108 (1769) ; et auctorum plurimorum 

 — (Sume Sf Marshall), {BiddidpK), (Scully), (Dresser), (Saunders), &c. 



Rallus mixtus, Lapeyr. Mamm. et Ois. de la Savte-Oaronne, p. 38 (1799). 



Gallinula pusillus, Bechst. Orn. Taschenh. ii. p. 340 (1803, nee Pall. 1826). 



Gallinula minuta, Mont. Om. Diet. Suppl. g 2, fol. 9 (1813, nee Pall. 1826). 



Gallinula foljambei, Mont. Orn. Diet. Append, fol. B 6 (1813). 



Zapornia minuta (Mont), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sfc. Brit. Mus. p. 34 (1816). 



Rallus peyrousei, Vieill. N. Diet. d^Hist. Nat. xxviii. p. 562 (1819). 



Ortygometra olivacea, Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii. pt. i. p. 226 (1824). 



Rallus minutus, PaU. apud Bonaparte, Keyserling S/- Blasius, Degland Sr Oerhe, Stan- 

 ford, &c. 



Rallus pusillus,- PoZ?. apiid Idchtenstein, Stephens, Bonaparte, Meves, Temminch, &c. 



The Little Crake is a rare visitor to our islands on spring and autumn 

 migration ; it is not impossible that some may remain to breed^ and 

 others occasionally remain during the winter. It has occurred in England 

 between thirty and forty times^ but is not recorded from Wales, only once 

 from Scotland, and twice from Ireland. 



The range of the Little Crake is much more restricted than that of 

 Baillon's Crake, and coincides very closely with that of the western form 

 of the Water- Rail. It has not occurred on the Faroes, and can scarcely 

 be regarded as more than an accidental visitor to South Sweden. In 

 Denmark it is more numerous^ and in Russia it is a summer visitor in the 

 west as far north as Riga, and in the east as far north as Astrakhan, 

 whence its range extends in Asia throughout Russian Turkestan except in 

 the north-east. It passes through Gilgit on migration, and winters in 

 Western Scind. It breeds in Afghanistan, but does not appear to have 

 been discovered in Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine, or North-east Africa, 

 although it is very common in the Caucasus. In Central and Southern 

 Europe it is somewhat locally distributed, and is a resident in Algeria. It 

 passes through Spain and Greece on migration, and probably breeds and 

 winters in both countries. 



The Little Crake, from its shy and retiring habits and small size, is very 

 apt to be overlooked, and consequently very little has been recorded of its 

 habits. The haunts it frequents are marshes, the reeds and other coarse 

 vegetation growing on the banks of large pools and sluggish streams, and 

 dense reed-beds. It is very fond of swimming on open water, and may 

 often be seen running on dry land ; but when alarmed it always takes 



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