400 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



.... According to Harley, it was very common during the 



summer of 1842 Nowhere in Leicestershire was it met 



with in greater abundance than in the meadows and fields near the 



Soar, and from Loughborough to Kegworth it was plentiful " 



Several occurrences are enumerated in different years, but in few 

 cases is the season of the year mentioned. Two are recorded in 

 October (one of them on the 17th), and another shot at Saddington 

 Beservoir on the 15th January, 1884 (Browne, * Vertebrate 

 Animals of Leicestershire and Rutland,' p. 144). 



Northamptonshire. — Lord Lilford writes: — "Certainly not 



resident in the breeding season Two were shot 19th August, 



1880 ; two others 11th October, 1883, and one on the 23rd October, 

 in the same year" ('Notes on the Ornithology of Northampton- 

 shire,' reprinted from * The Zoologist,' 1879—1886). 



Warwickshire. — I have known of its occasional occurrence 

 in autumn in the southern division of this county. 



Oxfordshire. — In my lately published work on the Birds of 

 this county I have entered this species as " a spring and autumn 

 migrant, occurring in March, and again occasionally in August, 

 but more commonly in September and October. The 10th March, 

 on which day in 1887, an example struck the telegraph-wires at 

 Oxford, and came into the possession of Mr. A. H. Macpherson, 

 is the earliest date for its arrival in spring of which I am aware ; 

 another met the same fate near Banbury on the 14th of that 



month in 1881 I have no note of its having been obtained 



later than the 19th October There is some reason to believe 



that the Spotted Crake may breed in Oxfordshire, the occurrence 

 of immature examples in August rendering the supposition most 

 probable ; among other instances an entry in Mr. Beesley's note- 

 book, relating to one shot on the 19th of that month, in 1849, 

 may be cited. From its skulking habits it would easily escape 

 observation in the height of summer" ('Birds of Oxfordshire,' 

 pp. 137, 138). The following additional instances of its occur- 

 rence in the northern part of the county during the last few years 

 have come under my notice : — 



1879. — One at Bicester, 23rd September; several in the 

 neighbourhood of Banbury in October. 



1882. — One picked up under the telegraph-wires, 29th August. 



1883.— One shot at Adderbury, 25th August; another on the 

 20th by the Cher well at Bodicote. 



