182 
THE WATER HEN. 
hiding itself among the rushes and flags of swampy places, 
so that it is difficult to capture or shoot. 
Baillon's Craik has plumage of a yellowish brown colour, 
spotted with white and undulated with black above, the 
sides and abdomen barred with black and white. It is 
smaller by nearly an inch than the last species, with which 
it is sometimes confounded, and which both in habits and 
appearance it closely resembles. It always nestles as nearly 
as possible to the water, without ever frequenting the fields, 
and lays seven or eight eggs of the colour and shape of 
olives. But few specimens have been obtained in this 
country. 
The following lines by Bishop Mant on the commonest 
of the four species will fitly conclude our account of the 
Craiks ; — 
But, hark ! as by tlie cornfield's side, 
Where the fresh blades aspiring hide 
With wavy folds its fnrrow'd breast, 
The ear v/hat startling sounds arrest ! 
Perhaps you deem from fenny bog 
You hear the croaking of the frog. 
Monotonous, afar or nigh, 
The same untun'd repeated cry. 
Again the sound ! Now here, now there, 
It tempts to follow : but howe'er 
Your steps the fleeting cry pursue, 
You'll scarce the cause retiring view ; 
You'll scarce with foot or eye o'ertake 
The dark form of the mottled Crake ; 
As his long legs low-bending pass 
Through tlie high corn or waving grass, 
With body prone ; nor dares his v/ing 
Up from the verdant covert spring. 
The Water-hen, or Greenfooted Gallinule {Fulica 
chloropuSj or Gallinuld) — sometimes called the Moor, 
Marsh, or Stank Hen. This bird represents another genus 
of the first family of Skulkers ; it is the only one of the 
Gallinulce known in Britain. The birds of this genus differ 
from the Craiks, chiefly in having the base of the ridge of the 
upper mandible expanded into an oblong plate, which covers 
a greater or less extent of the forehead ; and in the flattened 
soles of the toes, wliicii are expanded into two narrow 
