122 RALLID.E. 



mer visitant. The proper place to look for it, is among thick 

 herbage with the aid of a water-spaniel. When it is flushed 

 during the day, it only flies to a short distance, and it requires 

 perseverance to make it take wing a second time from among 

 the grassy or reedy cover where it has found shelter. When 

 a Crake of this species has been obtained alive, it soon be- 

 comes accustomed to its cage, its keeper, and its food ; which 

 latter should consist of bread and milk, with chapped raw 

 meat, worms, and insects. In a natural state it feeds on 

 aquatic insects and their larvae, small beetles, and spiders, but 

 rarely, it is believed, on vegetable matter. 



The present species runs very fast, swims with ease and 

 grace, and is capable of diving when such a movement is 

 required for the sake of safety ; its flight is better sustained 

 than that of most rails, to which its lesser weight and pro- 

 portionately longer wings contribute greatly. 



The note of Baillon's Crake, is a sort of low whistle which 

 can hardly be described. 



The locality chosen for the reproduction of the species is 

 mentioned before ; the spot selected is muddy, soft ground, 

 overgrown with flags, and rushes, or long grass ; the nest 

 itself is formed of stalks and leaves of water plants, and is 

 closely interwoven with blades of grass of divers sorts, so as 

 to make it secure from any rising water, and is deep within 

 for the security of the eggs, which are generally seven or eight 

 in number. The hen bird sits very closely, and on leaving 

 the nest, she bends the surrounding blades over the fabric so 

 as to conceal it from the view of any intruder. 



The measurements of Baillon's Crake are as follows : 

 entire length six inches and a-half ; the wing, from the carpus 

 to the tip, four inches ; the beak, eight lines ; the naked part 

 of the tibia, five lines ; the tarsus, one inch one line ; the 

 middle toe, including the claw, one inch and a-half. 



