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also remarks in a communication to Yarrell, ' On the 2nd of April, 1833, a fenman of my 

 acquaintance killed an adult male of this species upon a marsh at Dilham, in this county ; it 

 was late in autumn, and the bird was in immature plumage.' A specimen in Mr. J. H. Gumey's 

 possession was thus recorded by him in the 'Annals of Natural History ' for 1842, under the 

 date of August 23rd: — 'About ten days since I received a specimen of that rare bird the 

 Baillon's Crake, killed near Yarmouth ; it is a fine male.' Again, in October 1840, as Mr. Dowell 

 informs me, he and a friend when Snipe-shooting at Shropham and on Buckenham Fen killed 

 two of these Crakes in the day. One, unfortunately, was too much spoilt by the dog for 

 preservation ; the other he presented to the Rev. W. W. Poley, of Brandon, in whose pos- 

 session it still remains. Although constantly shooting, however, in the same neighbourhood, 

 over the small chain of fens which border on the river Thet, he never met with another 

 specimen. 



"The discovery of the supposed nest and eggs of this bird in Norfolk, in the summer of 

 1866, was first announced in the 'Zoologist' for that year (p. 389) by Mr. J. Overend, of 

 Yarmouth, who, under date of July 9th, states, ' On the 9th of June a friend of mine in this 

 town was fortunate enough to obtain in the market four eggs of Baillon's Crake ; and on Saturday 

 last (July 7th) another of my friends was so lucky as to get five eggs of the same species.' From 

 further inquiries at the time, and communications received from Mr. R. Upcher, Mr. Crowfoot, 

 and Mr. Frere, of Yarmouth, I was enabled to gather the following additional particulars. It 

 appears that the four eggs mentioned by Mr. Overend as purchased on the 9th of June were 

 taken on that day at Potter-Heigham, or rather on Heigham Sounds, near Hickling, by a 

 labouring man, who sold them to a lad named John Smith, at Yarmouth, who had been in the 

 habit of collecting eggs for Mr. Crowfoot. The former was of course ignorant as to what they 

 were ; but as soon as their rarity was known, it was elicited from the man who took them that 

 he had seen the parent birds near the nest, which was placed in a parcel of reeds growing in 

 water about a foot in depth. It was very small and loosely made, composed of dry rushes. A 

 few days later Smith paid a visit to the spot with the hope of securing the nest, but found that 

 the reeds had been cut and the nest spoiled ; and no doubt the man who discovered it was employed 

 in reed-cutting at the time. The five eggs procured on the 7th of July were also taken in the 

 same locality ; but of these, unfortunately, three were broken. What became of the nest I 

 cannot say ; but the two were most likely constructed by the same pair of birds." According 

 to Sir William Jardine it has once occurred in Scotland, one having been shot on a moss near 

 Locherbie ; but Mr. Robert Gray remarks that this is probably the only instance of its occur- 

 rence north of the Tweed, except that mentioned by Mr. James Wilson, who states that 

 Mr. Sinclair, of Wick, obtained one in Caithness-shire. It has been recorded by Hadfield from 

 the Isle of Man ; and a single example has been obtained in Ireland, in a bog at Clay Castle, 

 near Youghal, on the 30th October 1845. 



It has not been met with in Sweden, Norway, or Finland, and appears to be rare in Russia 

 (for I do not find it included in any of the lists of birds met with there) ; but, according to 

 Mr. Taczanowski, it is found in Poland, where it is much rarer than Porzana maruetta. It is 

 found in Germany, but appears generally to be less numerous than Porzana jparva. Borggreve 

 gives no data respecting its range, as he believes it to be specifically identical with Porzana 



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