Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/122

 fact:—"A gentleman had a Corn Crake brought to him by his dog, to all appearance lifeless. As it lay on the ground he turned it over with his foot, and felt convinced that it was dead. Standing by, however, in silence, he suddenly saw it open an eye; he then took it up, its head fell, its legs hung loose, and it again appeared quite dead. He then put it in his pocket, but before long he felt it all alive, and struggling to escape. He then took it out, it was as lifeless as before. Having laid it again on the ground and retired to some distance, the bird in about five minutes warily raised its head, looked around, and decamped at full speed." The pairing season commences almost as soon as the Corn Crakes arrive, and during this period the males guard their mates with jealous care from the approach of a rival, and drive off any intruder with loud harsh cries. The nest is built when the herbage has attained a sufficient height, and is formed of fibres, moss, dry blades of grass, and similar materials. The eggs, which are usually seven or nine, but occasionally as many as twelve in number, are large and beautifully formed, with a smooth, glossy, yellowish, or greenish white shell, strewn with spots of various shades. The female broods for three weeks, and sits with so much devotion that she will remain to be taken in the hand rather than desert her offspring. The young are covered with black down, and at first seek shelter beneath their parents' wing; if alarmed they run like mice over the ground, and are almost instantly in a place of safety. The flesh of this species is good for the table.

The JACANAS (Parræ) form a group of remarkable birds, occupying the warmer parts of both hemispheres, and characterised by their slender body, long thin beak, narrow pointed wings, short tail, composed of slender feathers (in one species the latter are much prolonged towards the centre), and the extraordinary length of their thin toes and claws. The heavy, beautifully-coloured plumage is alike in both sexes, but the young differ considerably in appearance from the parents. Most members of this group have a bare patch or excrescence on the brow, and a thorn-like appendage on the first wing-joint. These beautiful birds frequent marshy ground, on the borders of rivers and ponds, and obtain the seeds and aquatic insects—that form their principal means of subsistence—from amongst the aquatic plants, over the surface of which their long feet enable them to run with astonishing rapidity. The nest is made among reeds, and contains usually either three or four eggs.

The cry of the Jacanas somewhat resembles a laugh, and is generally uttered just after they have alighted, or when they are about to take wing. If suddenly surprised they instantly give warning to their companions, and immediately fly away, the whole party following, with neck outstretched, and screaming loudly.

THE CHILIAN JACANA.

The (Parra Jacana) represents a division of the above group, having the slender wing armed with a spur, and composed of pointed feathers. The third quill is longer than the rest. The delicate bill is bare at its corners, and has a skinny appendage at its base; the feet are long and thin, and have the claws and toes of nearly equal length. The short tail, formed of ten soft, slightly-pointed feathers, is rounded at its extremity. In the adult of this species the head, neck, breast, and belly are black, and the back, wings, and sides of the belly reddish brown. The quills are yellowish green, tipped with black, and the tail dark reddish brown; the eye is pale yellow, the beak red, tipped with yellow; the bare patches on the brow and corners of the bill are blood-red, the feet grey, and the wing-spurs yellow. The young are yellowish white on the under side; the crown of the head and nape are black, and the back olive-brown. This species is from nine to ten inches long, the wing measures five inches and one-sixth, and the tail two inches. "A bird so well armed as the Chilian Jacana," says Molina, "cannot want for means of defence in case of necessity, and it of course fights with great courage and vigour everything that attempts to molest it. It is never seen in elevated places, and never perches upon trees, but lives wholly in the plains, and feeds upon insects and