272 



I did not actually obtain an identified nest, I have no doubt they are to be found breeding in the 

 country." Von Homeyer met with it in the Balearic Isles ; and, according to Count Salvadori, 

 it is found on passage in Italy, and probably breeds there. It is common in Sicily during the 

 winter, and is said to breed near Catania and Syracuse. Mr. C. Bygrave Wharton obtained it in 

 Corsica in March and April; and Mr. C. A. Wright says (Ibis, 1864, p. 150) that it is pretty 

 common in Malta, being most plentiful in March. 



In Southern Germany it is tolerably common during the summer. Dr. Fritsch says that it 

 is numerous, in suitable localities, in Bohemia from April to October, and especially so near 

 Weisswasser ; the late Mr. E. Seidensacher informed me that he used to meet with it near Cilli, 

 in Styria, on the autumn passage; and Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown state (Ibis, 1875, 

 p. 418) that it is common everywhere, and migratory, in Transylvania. It is found not uncom- 

 monly in Turkey, and, Dr. Kriiper says, is a resident in Greece. The specimens in the Museum 

 at Athens were killed in Attica on the 7th of March and 2nd of June. Resident and common in 

 the Ionian Islands, Lord Lilford says it is more numerous in September and October than at any 

 other time. It is found in Asia Minor, where Strickland met with it near Smyrna in winter ; and 

 Colonel Drummond-Hay says that it breeds commonly in Crete. Canon Tristram did not meet 

 with it in Palestine, though he believes that it occurs there in suitable localities, and it is found 

 in North Africa. 



Von Heuglin says that it appears not uncommonly in September and October in Egypt, 

 Nubia, and the coasts of the Bed Sea, as also on the Blue and White Nile, where it winters. 

 He observed a few in May in the Fayoom and Nile delta; and Riippell states that it occurs in 

 Abyssinia. Captain Shelley believes that it is resident in Lower Egypt, as one or two specimens 

 may generally be met with. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., met with it at Laghouat, in Algeria; and 

 Loche says that it is resident in that province. Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake obtained two at 

 Martine in March ; and Favier says {fide Colonel Irby, Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 143) that it is met with 

 near Tangier during passage, but not in any great number. I do not find it recorded from 

 Central or Southern Africa; probably it does not range below the northern portions of that 

 continent ; but, according to Berthelot, it has been obtained in the Canaries. 



To the eastward the Spotted Crake is found at least as far as India ; but it does not occur 

 in China or Japan. Pallas certainly states that it is found in Eastern Siberia ; for he writes 

 (Zoogr. Bosso-As. ii. p. 155) as follows: — "In arundinetis Rossiae et Siberia?, praasertiin australi- 

 oribus, passim vivit." But later explorers do not appear to have met with it in Eastern Siberia. 

 Mr. Blanford obtained one specimen in Persia ; and De Filippi states that Doria found it common 

 in spring at Veramin, south-east of Tehran. According to Severtzoff it breeds rarely in Turkestan ; 

 and Mr. A. O. Hume says (Stray Feathers, i. p. 251) that one was shot in the Roree district 

 (Sindh) by Dr. Day. He never happened to come across it again ; but sportsmen to whom he 

 showed the skin told him that it was not uncommonly met with in tamarisk thickets, in and on 

 the edges of swamps, when beating for Snipe. According to Dr. Jerdon it is " found all over 

 India in the cold season, and frequents marshes, rice-fields, and moist meadows near rivers and 

 tanks;" and Dr. Henderson writes (Lah. to Yark. p. 293): — "A single specimen of this species 

 was obtained at the Karatag lake, on the Karakoram, at an elevation of over 16,000 feet. This 

 was on the 24th September, and the bird was probably on its way southwards ; it could not 



