procured on the 7th of July were also takén in thé same
locality ; hut of these, unfortunately, three were broken.
What became of the nest I cannot say ; but the two were
most likely constructed by the same pair of birds.”* The
earliest account of the breeding of this Crake; in England
is, however, that given by Mr. Sealy (Zool. p. 6329)?, who
describes the finding of two nests in Cambridgeshire, in
June and in August, 1858, and some further details are
given by Mr. F. Bond in Gould’s ‘ Birds of* Great Britain.’
• Proceeding northwards, the occurrences of Bâillon’s
Crake become rarer ; nevertheless Mr. W. E. Clarke records
(Yorkshire Verteb. p. 64) three examples from that
county ; and Capt. Hadfield mentions it as having .visited
the Isle of Man. In Scotland, one is stated by Sir William
Jardine to have been killed near Lockerbie, Dumfries-shire ;
and Mr. R. Gray cites another in Caithness. In Ireland, one
is recorded by Thompson, as obtained near Youghal, on 80th
October, 1845 ? one has occurred near Kanturk, co. Cork ;
and a third near Waterford (ZqoI;*T882/,p. 118). fr
On the Continent its distribution appears.t© be somewhat
irregular, owing probably to insufficient information. In
certain districts of Holland it breeds in ^gome I numbers ;
also in many of the marshy parts of France; in a few
localities- in Switzerland ; - somewhat capriciously in Germany
; and in? the Italian provinces of Lombardy, Vénefia,
and Tuscany. The above countries,, are frequented from
spring to autumn, but in the Spanish Peninsula Bâillon’s
Crake islto a great extent/resident, breeding in the mashes
of Andalucia and Valencia, where the Little Crake, so far as
is known at present, only occurs on migration. - A regular
visitant to Hungary, ’ the range of Bâillon’s Crake can be
traced to Greece,- where it is but little -known-; and to
Southern Russia as far as the Ural, although not included
-by Bogdanow among- the speeies/of-.the Caucasus | thence,
eastward, through Turkestan and Persia, to Gilgit, Kashmir,
Nepal, and India, especially the North-West -Provinces.
Mr. Hume states that it is abundant near Simla up. to an
* Birds of Norfolk,'ll’, pp: 401^ ï03'.r_Â
elevation of 4,000 feet, and he 'took a .-nest near Etawahj
finding this/ species in localities where the Little. Crake
was not observed. I t is recorded by Captain Legge as a
rare visitor to .Ceylon; Mr/ Davison' obtained it ..in* the
Andaman Islands ; and it has occurred on the west
coast- of Borneo. Passing northwards, it is found in the
eastern provinces of China, breeding near Pekin ; in Japan ;
in Southern . Siberia ; and in Dauria,’ where Dybowski
found it breeding. A straggler :td Madeira on migration,
Baillon’s | Crake appears to be scarce in Morocco,
although tolerably abundant and partially resident in
Algeria; and, again-, it is of local’.distribution in Egypt,
although found as far as Khartoum. Dr. Barboza du
Bocage has only once receivedJt from Angola, but Anders-
son found it resident and plentiful in the marshes of
Damara Land; Layard obtained it -in- Cape/Golony:; it
breeds in the Transvaal and Natal; Mr.?E.-Newton records
it from Antananarivo, Madagascar, and Mr. Seebohm
has spécimens, from the centré: of that island. ■ -■
Baillon’s ^Crake .appears to-be .less partial to meres and
-open water tkahbthe - Little Crake-; piin the • contrtóy, it frequents
the .«mailer marshes and swamps, especially :where
there ns-/a. surrounding of, tamarisk and--.other hushesu
Evening and daybreak are almost the only times -when it
■is’to -be -seen, unless, very,much pressed -by a dog, and
.even then it is loth to.take wing. Its call-note is said
to be. similar to that/of the Little f Crake. The nest,
concealed amongst' the aquatic vegetation, is composed of
dry flags ând'-sedge;* théieggs, .numbering from six to eight,
are of an olive-brown, marked with, darker blotches and
stréaks, occasional!? almost umber-brown . in ; .colour; ,ànd
measure about 1 by%8 in. The. fooxL-of this species appears
to consist of insects ànd‘f Beit larve,. especially gnats, end
small mollnsks, with alittléwegetablé matter. -, " ; . '
In the adult male the beak is green, the base red; irides
red; top of the head and back of the neck clöve-brown ;
centre of .the'back and the scapulars brown, thickly streaked:
with black, and thinly with white ; wing-coverts and tertials