Baillon'S Crake. 35 



and other small insects ; but on the slightest alarm they glide back at 

 marvellous speed to the safety of the jungle. 



I do not know any bird that is so difficult to flush as this ; the most 

 close hunting-dogs are frequently entirely baffled. The only remains of food 

 that I could find in these Crakes, by post-mortem examination, consisted of 

 small insects and fragments of minute shells ; but I must admit that I never 

 examined them under a microscope. This species swims easily and readily, 

 but, as far as my own experience goes, seldom ventures upon the open water. 

 If taken alive and unhurt, this Crake, after a few savage pecks at the fingers 

 of its captor, and one or two struggles to escape, will feign death, dropping 

 its head, closing its eyes, and becoming perfectly ' limp ' ; but keeping a 

 sharp look out, and stealing off at the first opportunity." 



In the adult male the bill is green, slightly red at the base ; the upper 

 parts are brown, with streaks of black and white ; the under parts are slaty 

 grey, the flanks being barred with black and white. It is readily distinguished 

 from the allied species by the outer web of the first flight feather of the 

 wing being white ; this feather in the Little Crake is invariably brown. The 

 female has the chin nearly white, and the under parts are much paler grey. 

 The young in their first plumage resemble the female, but the under parts 

 are barred with brown. Baillon's Crake is the smallest Buropean species of 

 the family, its length being only seven inches. 



