externally marked with buffy white as in Porzana bailloni ; underparts deep slate-blue, but the lower 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts are less distinctly barred than in Porzana bailloni ; bill yellowish green, 

 except at the base, where it is bright red; iris blood-red ; legs green. Total length about 8 inches, 

 culnien - 75, wing 4 - 15, tail 23, tarsus 13, middle toe with claw T75. 



Adult Female (Southern France, May) . Differs from the male in lacking the blue colour on the underparts ; 

 upper parts as in the male, but rather lighter ; sides of the head greyish slate-blue ; chin and upper 

 throat white ; lower throat, breast, and abdomen flesh-pink, with an ochreous tinge ; the lower abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts marked as in the male, but paler. 



Young (Lower Volga, April) . Eesembles the young of Porzana bailloni, but may be distinguished by its 

 larger size, by the absence of the broad white margin to the first primary ; and the sides of the head, 

 neck, and breast are paler, being almost pure white, slightly marked on the margins with blackish grey. 



The range of the Little Crake is more restricted than that of Baillon's Crake ; for it is not found 

 so far east, west, or south as that bird. It occurs throughout Europe, but only ranges into 

 Western Asia and North Africa. 



In Great Britain it is only known as a rare straggler ; and there is no instance on record of 

 a nest having been found here, though it may very possibly have bred with us. It was first 

 known as a British species in 1809, a specimen having been shot near Ashburton, in Devonshire. 

 Besides this, Yarrell (Brit. B. iii p. 117) enumerates the following occurrences, viz.: — one, 

 Norfolk, obtained by Mr. Foljambe in May 1812 ; one near Chelsea ; one shot on the 6th May, 

 1807, on the banks of the Yore, near Wensley, Yorkshire, but not recorded until 1823; one, 

 Bramwell, near Cambridge, in March 1826; one recorded in 1829 as having been obtained in 

 1807 in Ardwick meadows, near Manchester; one recorded in 1834 by Mr. Hoy as having been 

 shot near Yarmouth; one near Shoreham in October 1835; and one recorded by Mr. W. C. 

 Williamson in 1836 as having been killed near Scarborough. Besides these, however, there 

 are several later instances of its occurrence ; for it has been said to have been obtained near 

 Hastings in April 1859, at Seaford in March 1848, near Fevensey in March 1862, in Somerset 

 early in October 1870, and in Hampshire; for Mr. Mansel-Pleydell says that two were shot by 

 Mr. G. Churchill, of Alderholt Park, Fordingbridge, but that he knows of no other instance of 

 its occurrence in that county. It appears to have occurred more frequently in the eastern 

 counties than elsewhere ; and Mr. Stevenson enumerates the following instances of its occur- 

 rence in Norfolk (several of which, as will be seen, are also given above), viz. : — one stated by 

 Montagu to have been discovered in a poulterer's shop early in May 1812 by Mr. Foljambe ; 

 one shot at Buckenham Ferry in August 1827; one, an immature bird, obtained at Neatishead 

 in March 1828; one shot on Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, in 1830 — these three recorded by 

 Mr. Lombe. Hunt states that one was shot by Mr. Girling in the neighbourhood of Scottow, 

 and one killed at Bradestone, prior to 1829. According to Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, 

 two were shot by Mr. Richers near Yarmouth, March 1833; and Captain Glasspoole killed two 

 on Horsey Broad in 1833. Between 1833 and 1847, Mr. Stevenson remarks, it is not recorded 

 as having been obtained ; but one was shot on the 30th of March in that year on the wet marshes 

 adjoining the large sheet of water at Heigham Sounds; one was shot by Mr. J. Dickens at 

 Dilham Fen on the 26th of April 1852; one was shot at Catfield on the 8th May 1855; and 



