when forced to do so ; its flight is comparatively quick 

 and well sustained when it really means travelling to a 

 distance ; it is a very noisy bird, and has a variety of 

 cries, of which one, that I take to be the pairing-call, 

 much resembles the single " twit " of the Pied Wood- 

 pecker, but is not so loud or harsh. A sudden loud 

 noise, such as a clap of thunder or a gunshot, will often 

 set off all the Crakes in a marsh screaming, twittering, 

 and whistling for some minutes, but this habit is not 

 by any means confined to this species, or indeed to its 

 genus. As I have never myself seen the nest of this 

 bird in situ, I must refer my readers for precise details 

 to other writers, and will merely say that the eggs in 

 colour and markings resemble those of the Water-Hen 

 much more than those of the Corn-Crake. 



In most of the marshes that border the Mediter- 

 ranean, at least in the not inconsiderable number of 

 these districts that I have personally visited, this Crake 

 is very abundant on the double passage, and more or 

 less common at other seasons, but I never met with it 

 anywhere in such numbers as in the great swamps of 

 Eastern Sicily, where, no doubt, many are permanently 

 resident. 



