178 
HEARD, BUT NOT SEEN. 
Worms, mollusca, insects and seeds. Most of them smm 
and dive vnth ease ; but some, and especially the first- 
named of the above species, keep chiefly to corn-fields, and 
other dry places. This bird, which is sometimes called 
the Land-rail, Land-hen, Daker-hen, or Corncracker, is 
the only one of the gronp which is at all common with us ; 
it is about ten inches and three-quarters in length ; the 
upper parts of the plumage are of a dull yellowish red, 
streaked with brownish black ; the wing coverts are light 
red, the sides of the head grey ; the lower parts are red- 
dish white, the sides being light red with white bars. 
This bird, like the Cuckoo, is much oftener heard than 
seen ; it is a summer visitor, generally arriving near the 
end of April, and departing late in September. In the 
rich meadow lands and corn-fields of some parts of Bri- 
tain, more especially in the south, may its peculiar cry 
resounding on every side, be heard .during the greater 
part of May. 
At all times of the day, but more especially in the early morning 
(as Macgillivray tells ns), and towards twilight, is this well-known 
cry uttered ; it resembles the syllables crek, crek, repeated at short 
intervals, and often continued for many minutes, probably a quarter 
of an hour or more. It has the reputation of being an expert ven- 
triloquist, and whether or not it deserves the title, it is certainly 
CORXCEAIX. 
