64 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



left exposed by the mowers. The hen sits closely, and slips very 

 quietly off her nest. The young (covered with black down) are 

 ready to follow their parents soon after they are hatched. Only 

 one brood is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are 

 grown they appear to be deserted by the old birds ; for during 

 all the period of its stay in our islands the Corn Crake is a 

 solitary and unsociable bird. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Crex, with the general colour 

 brownish buff, spotted with black on the upper parts, and with 

 the axillaries chestnut. Length, between lo and ir inches. 



