PORZANA PALUSTRIS. (Gould.) 



LITTLE WATER CRAKE. Genus: Porzana. 



rpiIIS is a much smaller species than the last, but sufficiently like in plumage to he mistaken for an immature 

 JL specimen, though the colours and markings are less uniform. 



Inhabiting much the same localities as the Spotted Water Crake, the Little Water Crake is much less 

 common on the mainland than in Tasmania, owing to the former country being comparatively riverless, and less 

 suitable to its habits. If possible it is a greater recluse than its larger congener, and confines itself to the densest 

 morasses. Like the rest of its family its swims easily, and escapes many a natural enemy by means of diving. 

 On the ground it threads its way through reeds and tangle with remarkable quickness, so that it may be 

 considered as both terrestial and aquatic. 



The nest is Hat, and formed of various grasses ; in it are laid four or five eggs, nearly uniform, brownish 

 olive. Length, twelve lines and a-half ; breadth, nine lines and a-quarter. 



Mead and back, brown, finely streaked with blackish brown; sides of neck and shoulders, light fawn; 

 back, dark brown, margined with rusty brown and irregular oblong white marks ; rest of upper surfaces dark 

 brown, fringed with rusty brown ; two or three of the primaries tipped with white ; throat, lores, chest, and 

 breast, lighf slate ; lower part of abdomen and flanks, blackish grey, barred with white; irides, red; bill and feet, 

 olive brown. 



Total length, six inches. 



Habitats : Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence River Districts, New South Wales, Victoria, South 

 Australia, Tasmania, West and South-West Australia. 



PORZAXA FLUMINEA. {Gould.) 



SPOTTED WATER CRAKE. Genus: Porzana. 



rpHE natural disposition of this little bird inclines it to live among swampy grounds, reed-beds, or the neigh- 

 bourhood of rivers densely clothed w r ith undergrowth, consequently it is a w r ork of the utmost difficulty to 

 flush it from its hiding place. Added to this, the perfect accord of its grey and brown plumage with the 



leaves and stems of its surroundings, provides a disguise and means of defence that makes detection most 



difficult. 



The Spotted Water Crake is found only in the eastern and southern colonies as far as South Australia, 

 and in Queensland does not extend farther north than Port Denison, from which fact we may assume that it 

 affects temperate rather than torrid latitudes. 



From the difficulty of observing its habits, little is known of its economy, but we may safely argue that 

 it is the same as the English representatives. 



Of its nidification somewhat is known. Mr. A. E. Brent of Tasmania was very successful, through the 

 aid of a Gordon setter, " in finding three of the Spotted Crake's nests in the reedy lagoons formed by the overflow 

 of the Derwent, and therefore had ample opportunities for identifying the birds. He states that two nests con- 

 tained each four eggs and the other five. The nests were among bunches of rushes, partly on the water, and 

 constructed of aquatic weeds for foundation, and lined with soft ' band ' grass, which was damp. A staging or 

 track led up from the water to the nest. In Queensland a nest was found among water-lilies and rushes, and 

 was composed of dead rushes in a wet state." 



