284 BOMBAY DUCKS 
from the British Isles, and there is no bird left nearly 
so noisy as a dozen of our commonest Indian birds— 
birds which haunt our gardens and housetops. 
As a sound-producer the corn-crake (Crex pratensis) 
is worthy of all respect; it has a faculty of “getting 
on the nerves” in a manner that might excite jealousy 
even in the breast of the Indian brain-fever bird. The 
corn-crake, or land-rail, as it is often called, is a 
summer visitor to the British Isles; stragglers have 
been heard of in India, but the bird does not properly 
belong to avifauna of that country. 
Upon arrival in England it takes up lodgings in 
a cornfield, one next to a house by preference. Every 
evening, as the shades of darkness steal o’er the land, 
the bird tunes up. It has but one note—a raucous, 
rasping “crake.” The bird shouts “crake” a hundred 
times a minute without a break until sunrise. It is 
impossible to drive the bird from the field in which it 
has taken apartments; at least, all the attempts I 
have made failed miserably. Yet some of them were 
well planned out and marked with determination. 
Upon one occasion, the whole of a large and in- 
dignant household turned out into the fields, and, 
having formed a line, attempted to drive the crake 
before it. As the line approached the middle of the 
field the bird became silent. We hoped that it was 
running away. Presently we heard behind us, “ Crake, 
crake, crake!” Again and again, the line was formed 
and the field beaten, but all in vain. The crake always 
managed to get behind us. This behaviour is fully in 
accordance with the description of the habits of the 
