parents and lived together; whilst the old birds had just
begun to breed again, when they fell victims to an accident.
The usual noté of the old birds when calling to their
young is a crrou, crrou, crrou, hut at daybreak and towards
sunset the male, and sometimes the female, utters a mournful
sound similar to the'booming'**' of the- Bittern. This |is
well known to the Andalusian peasant, and has-procured for
the bird its name of ToHllo, or'“ little bulli-V*
The adult female, which is considerably larger than the
male, has the bill horn-coloured, lighter at the angle oMbe
under mandible ; iris pale hazel ; top of the head 'mottled-
brown with a central buff streak descending to the nape ;
the cheeks pale, buff, barred with black; the feathfefcs of'-the
upper parts rufous-brown, thickly covëred with blackish bars,
and margined' with pale buff; ^wing-coverts -spottedwith
black, chestnut, and buffy-white ; quill-feathers' diiH brown,
with a light-coloured line along the .edge of • the" oüfterrwéb ;
chin white ; throat and upper breast palè'chestnut/passing
into buffy-white on the abdomen; sides of'the-hreast-and
flanks spotted with black andf^brown on a1‘ buff "ground;
under tail-coverts chestnut; legs light-brown. Total'length
about eight-inches ; from the-carpal-joint to the tips'^of the
first'and second 'primaries,* which are the longest' in-the
wing, three-inches and a half. £
Ah adult male obtained at 'MAlaga on thé 2 3rd of jtep-,
tembér; 1872, had the testes largely developed, although thé
plumage was in partial moult. The markings* reseinblfe
those of< the female, but the general tohe^o^ the:ugpbr parts
was much greyer, and the chestnut of the undér'-pârts-'less
vivid. Total length six inches and threé-quarters'-; wing
thiee! inches.
fV U C À R lÆ .. • ' r R A L L IDÆ -
Ç r ex , p r At e n s is , Bechstein.*1
\ fH E .LA§T> RAIL,
-oh ?®or4 obA'KE. p
Crex, shorter than-the head, tbipfc at the.base,
trat'ed, .compressed; the cujroep gradually 'deflecting from the forehead to the
point of t the bill; lateral furrow .of the hpper mandible b£oad,-and occupying
moj^hhtrhalf M U angle ofc ffieitmder mandible bending upwards; both
mandibles of an equal length.,. SAtril's concave, lateral, linear,^oyord^ierce
ihia m,embrane/qceijpyijjg the mandibular ^ the middle ^ the bijl.
Wings armed with a spine, and having-^tfie second And third quill-fea^er the
longest. Legs strong, of moderate length,' with the lower p a r t^ tb e ^ itm s
naked. ‘ Feet four-toed, tbree-before, one behind.- Toes long, slender.and cMt
to their base-, without any. lateral membrane hiqd R e s t i n g almost wholly on
the ground. Claws arcu.ate,, compressed^ and shM^pointed. ^
^SPst-ei -few fi B alt, is a | summer-.^isitfoPuto- 'this- •poultry,
generally making itshappparartce in the,southern counties
* -Ornithologfeghes faschenbuch/ii, p. 337-(lS0'3^l!
p. 3§&. _