Subfamily RALLINJE. 

 Genus CREX or CRAKES. 



Type CREX PRATENSIS. 



Crex of Bechstein (1803). — The birds comprising the 

 ■present genus are characterised by their short, thick bill, shorter 

 than the head, and by having the forehead covered with feathers 

 to the base of the culmen. The wings are moderately long, but 

 rather rounded ; the tail is short. The tarsus is comparatively 

 short, the lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers. The bill is 

 short and compressed ; nostrils linear and oblong. Three toes in 

 front, one behind, the former long and slender ; claws curved 

 and sharp. 



This genus is composed of about twenty-five species, which 

 are confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of all 

 the great zoological regions with the exception of Arctic latitudes. 

 Four species are either resident in or visitors to the British 

 Islands. 



The Crakes are dwellers amongst the dense and humid 

 vegetation of swamps and marshes ; but some species are more 

 terrestrial than others. They are birds of somewhat slow and 

 laboured flight, and on the ground progress by running and 

 walking. Their notes are shrill and harsh. They subsist chiefly 

 on insects, seeds, and tender shoots. Their nests are large, and 

 made of aquatic vegetation, and their eggs are numerous and 

 double- spotted. They are monogamous. The flesh of some 

 species is highly esteemed. 



