72 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



be far more frequently observed in the open. It frequents 

 marshes, swamps, and reed-beds, and pools of stagnant water, 

 and though fond of swimming, is often seen on land. It has the 

 same reluctancy to take wing, and always tries to escape danger 

 by running to the nearest cover or diving. When in Algeria I 

 met with the Little Crake in the beautiful oasis of Biskra, on the 

 northern limits of the Great Desert. It had its haunts among 

 the short reeds that fringed the margin of a small pool. I first 

 of all saw a female floating amongst the reeds a few yards from 

 shore, but as I approached it swam gently towards the vegetation 

 and hid itself in the cover. It floated very buoyantly for such a 

 tiny bird, and every now and then seemed to pick an insect from 

 the stems, and often buried its head amongst the grass-like weed 

 floating on the surface. As I approached nearer, and walked 

 round the wet mud at the edge of the pool, a cock-bird rose 

 from the reeds in a slow, fluttering manner, with legs hanging 

 down, and flew towards the other side of the pool. As he rose 

 he uttered the usual clicking note of this species, a shrill kik-ik-ik, 

 and I shot him as he went. When I dissected this specimen, 

 which an Arab up to his breast in mud and water had fetched 

 from the pool, I found the remains of beetles in its stomach, and 

 a few bits of gravel. Hume states that he found this Crake very 

 common on the " dhunds " in Scinde ; he never flushed them 

 from the sedge or reed, but found them everywhere, either 

 running about the water-lily or lotus-leaves, or swimming from 

 leaf to leaf, jerking their tails and nodding their heads just like 

 Waterhens. The same observant naturalist remarked that this 

 species is more insectivorous than Baillon's Crake. The food of 

 the Little Crake consists principally of insects and their larvae, 

 especially beetles. It also eats small seeds and scraps of vegetable 

 substances. 



Nidification. — The Little Crake begins nest-building about 

 the middle of May, and its eggs are laid at the end of the month. 

 The nest is artfully concealed amongst the aquatic vegetation, 

 and is sometimes placed a foot or more above the surface of the 

 water, sometimes under the shelter of a tuft of sedge. Like that 

 of all the Crakes, it is large for the size of the bird, and made of 

 bits of reeds and flag, dry grass, and other aquatic herbage. The 



