baillon's crake. 837 



Breeding-season. — From mid-May onward in Central Europe. Prob- 

 ably normally single brooded, but late nests may be found in July. 

 Incubation. — No details as to period or share of sexes. 

 Food. — Chiefly insects, especially coleoptera, but also diptera and 

 their larvae, orthoptera, neuroptera and many aquatic species such 

 as Hydrometra, Hydrachna, etc. Also mollusca (Planorbis, Bithynia, 

 Ancylus, Valvata, etc.). Seeds occasionally recorded. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Vagrant. England. — About forty, 

 as follows : Yorks. (five), Lines., Norfolk (eleven), Suffolk, Cambs., 

 Middlesex, Oxon., Surrey (possibly), Sussex (six), Hants, (four), 

 Dorset (two), Somerset, Devon (several), Cornwall, Salop, Lanes., 

 Cumberland (two). Scotland. — Two or three. Banff, March, 1852, 

 Ayr, March, 1909. One seen Arygll, Sept., 1911. Ireland. — Two. 

 co. Dublin, March, 1854, Kildare, Nov., 1903. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Breeds from N. Germany and central 

 Russia to S. Europe. Eastward appears to breed as far as Persia 

 and Turkestan. Generally migratory, wintering in Mediterranean 

 countries (exceptionally central Europe), and N. Africa, Arabia, 

 Mesopotamia, N.W. India. Said to have nested in S. Sweden ; 

 casual Heligoland, Canary Is., Azores ; a skin in British Museum 

 said to be from Uganda. 



PORZANA PUSILLA 



481. Porzana pusilla intermedia (Herm.)— BAILLON'S CRAKE. 



E-allus iNTERMEDius Hermann, Obs. Zool., 1, p. 198 (1804 — Strassburg) 

 Porzana bailloni (Vieillot), Yarrell, in, p. 154 ; Saunders, p. 513. 



Description. — Adult male. Winter. — Centre of fore-head and crown 

 and back of neck reddish-brown, feathers of crown with blackish 

 centres and sometimes narrow median streaks on back of neck ; 

 feathers of rest of upper-parts with reddish-brown fringes and large 

 black centres spotted or streaked with white more or less mottled 

 black ; sides of fore-head, lores, eye-stripes, sides of head and neck, 

 lower-throat and breast slate ; chin and centre of upper-throat 

 ashy -white ; sides of breast reddish -brown sparsely spotted and 

 streaked black and white ; belly and tibial feathers blackish-slate 

 narrowly barred white ; flanks and under tail-coverts black barred 

 white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts grey-brown, tipped 

 greyish -white, round edge of wing white ; tail-feathers black, 

 fringed reddish-brown ; primaries dark brown, outer webs paler, 

 outer feathers with narrow uneven white edging, inner feathers 

 often with some small white spots ; secondaries dark brown with 

 varying number of mottled white spots or streaks, inner feathers as 

 upper -parts ; primary-coverts dark brown occasionally with one or 

 two minute white spots ; outer feathers of bastard-wing edged 

 white ; greater coverts and sometimes a few median as upper-parts ; 

 rest of median and most of lesser almost uniform reddish -brown with 

 only small dark centres and no white spots but lesser along bend 



