CAROLINA CRAKE 97 



A very near relative of the Spotted Crake is the 

 Carolina Crake, or Sora, of this country, a pretty little 

 bird of mottled plumage and black and white bars on 

 the flanks. 



The Corncrake, or Land Rail as it is often called, 

 is common in Great Britain, but only occasionally 

 seen in the eastern part of this country. Unlike the 

 Little Crake and the Spotted Crake, which love the 

 marshes, this bird frequents dry meadows, clover 

 fields, and fields of com. Though feeble in flight, 

 when migrating this bird is able to travel many hun- 

 dreds of miles without stopping, leaving the British 

 Islands in the autumn to pass the winter in Africa, 

 and returning in the spring. See Plate 30, Fig. 168. 



This bird makes a remarkable creaking sovind dur- 

 ing the summer which can easily be imitated by pass- 

 ing the thumb-nail over the teeth of a fine comb. In 

 this way they can often be lured into sight. Like the 

 other Rails, the Corncrake does not take wing readily, 

 and it flies slowly, with the legs hanging down. When 

 captured, it sometimes tries to effect its escape by 

 feigning death — a device used by other members of 

 this family also. 



Some well-known species of Rail in this country 

 are the King Rail, one of the largest forms, with 

 variegated plumage of brown, black and grey above, 

 reddish-brown below, and sides barred with white, 

 found in the eastern parts of the United States; the 

 Virginia Rail, considerably smaller than the preced- 

 ing, but resembling it in colour; the Clapper Rail, or 

 Marsh Hen, with pale olive colouring above, greyish- 

 brown on the wings, and, as with all the family, bars 



