294 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



found to contain numerous small particles of 

 gravel or grit as aids to digestion.^ 



In its search for this kind of food, the Land- 

 rail must traverse daily an immense tract of 

 ground, for which, however, its strong muscular 

 legs and large feet are well adapted. 



For six months at least in the year it appears 

 to be very generally distributed throughout the 

 British Islands ; and in Ireland, owing to the 

 more humid climate and the general prevalence 

 of meadow land, it is thought to be even com- 

 moner than in England. As regards Scotland, 

 the latest authority on the subject, Mr. Robert 

 Gray, in his " Birds of the West of Scotland," 

 says : " There is, perhaps, no Scottish bird more 

 generally distributed than the familiar Corncrake. 

 It is found in every district, cultivated and un- 

 cultivated, on the western mainland, from the 

 Mull of Galloway to Cape Wrath, and also over 

 the whole extent of both groups of islands, and 



1 A Landrail caught on Canvey Island, at the mouth of 

 the Thames, lived in confinement on com and water for a 

 week, when it made its escape. 



