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parva; but Gloger records it (Schl. Wirbelth. -Fauna, p. 51) as occurring, though rarely, in 

 Silesia; and Count Rodern found it breeding near Glogau. Naumann frequently met with it 

 during the breeding-season in Anhalt, especially in the marshes between the Elbe and the 

 Saale, except in dry seasons. It arrives in May and leaves probably in August, migrating 

 always at night. He also adds that it is found in Franconia and Hessen, especially near the 

 Main. It is not rare near Hanau, and is said to breed near Bischoffsheim and Enkheim. 

 Landbeck records it from Wiirttemberg, Kettner from Baden ; and Brehm obtained it from near 

 Ahlsdorf, in Saxony. Mr. van Wickevoort Crommelin, who has most carefully collected data 

 respecting its range, says that it is very rare in Lorraine, where it has been killed near Nancy ; 

 it breeds near Nantes, and not unfrequently in the marshes of Picardy, near Abbeville, but less 

 frequently in the departement du Nord, where it remains from the end of April to August. It 

 has been observed in April in Luxemburg, and is of accidental occurrence in Belgium ; and it 

 certainly breeds in Holland, where it cannot be very rare, as English collectors have obtained a 

 tolerable number of eggs there. Mr. van Wickevoort Crommelin says that " a female was 

 captured on her nest near Bois-le-Duc, in Brabant ; another, killed in our country, is in the 

 Leyden Museum ; and I possess a young male which was sent to me from Zwartsluis, in 

 Overijssel, on the 1st September, 1872. Sportsmen when Snipe-shooting frequently see this 

 Crake in that province late in April ; and it probably breeds there." In France the present 

 species is said by Degland and Gerbe to occur generally throughout the country, breeding in the 

 northern districts. It arrives in the south of France in March, and is most numerous on passage ; 

 but some pairs remain to breed there. Messrs. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye say, indeed, 

 that it is common in several parts of the south of France during the breeding-season, as, for 

 instance, in the marshes of St. Laurent, near Grenoble. Professor Barboza du Bocage says that 

 it is common in Portugal. And it appears to be by no means uncommon in Spain ; for I have 

 received many specimens from there ; Mr. Howard Saunders says that it is rather rarer than 

 the Little Crake ; Lord Lilford found it breeding near Seville ; and Colonel Irby writes of it 

 (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 143), " Seldom obtained, owing to its skulking propensities. I found this 

 prettily marked Crake very common when Snipe-shooting at Casa Vieja from October to February. 

 We also obtained it at the Laguna de Janda in May. Many are resident, breeding at the end of 

 April, when they make a small nest of sedges and grass placed at the edges of swamps, laying 

 from five to seven olive-brown eggs spotted with darker brown." 



Passing eastward, again, I find it recorded by Bailly(Orn. Sav. iv. p. 263) as common in the 

 marshes of Savoy, where it arrives in April and leaves in September. It is rare in Switzerland 

 during the breeding-season ; but Salvadori states (Ucc. d'ltal. p. 331) that it breeds in Tuscany, 

 Lombardy, and Venetia. Mr. C. A. Wright, who records its occurrence in Malta, says (Ibis, 

 1864, p. 150): — "This bird is probably commoner than it is generally considered to be, owing 

 to its retiring habits and its being mistaken for Rallus parvus. The first that came under my 

 notice was shot by Mr. J. Quintana, at the Marsa, on the 27th October 1860 ; and another was 

 killed at the same place on the following day. Two others are in my possession, both obtained 

 in March — one in 1861, and the other in 1862. I have seen three others in local collections. 

 The most recent capture (March 19th, 1863) came into the possession of Captain Morgan, who 

 skinned it." 



