The Natural History of Ireland/Volume 2/The Land Rail

Corncrake. Crex pratensis, Bechst. Rallus crex, Linn.

Is a common summer bird in Ireland.

Owing to the more humid climate and the general prevalence of meadow-land, it is more equally distributed over this island than Great Britain. The land-rail generally appears in the neighbourhood of Belfast as early as we are told it does in the southern counties of England; — within "the last ten days of April ;Footnote 2 and consequently earlier than in the northern parts of that country, where its arrival is said to occur in " the second week of May." Footnote 3 It was seen or heard there on the 12th of April in 1849 (a single bird only and no more for some time afterwards) ; on the 20th in 1832 ; on the 21st in 1833 ; on the 22nd in 1 845 and 1848 ; on the 24th in 1840 ; and on the 25th in 1844. About Carrickfergus, the corncrake has been noticed earlier. In M'Skimmin's history of that place (3rd edit. 1829, p. 352), it is said " the earliest time they have been heard calling was the 17th of April and the latest the 14th of August." According to a paragraph in the 'Northern Whig' newspaper of April 16, 1842, " the corncrake was heard calling in the neighbourhood of Carrickfergus on the 8th-inst., being about ten days earlier than heard at any former period in that district." If correct, this must have been an isolated instance, as in the year 1842, the bird was very late in arrival — or in making itself known by calling — in the neighbourhood of Belfast, where, until the 1st of May, I was not aware of its presence. Its non-appearance before May is a rare occurrence : in 1836 it was very late, and in ] 838 later than ever before known, not being heard until the 6th of May, when numbers appeared all at once. Instead of one or two, as is usual on their first arrival, being heard, not less than ten gave forth their calls at the same time, in the grounds of Port William, on the borders of the bay. Over the north generally they were not quite so late, one having been heard near Downpatrick on the 1st of May, and others on the 4th at the Moyntaghs, bordering Lough Neagh. According to dates supplied by my informants, this bird would appear not to arrive so early in the more southern parts of Ireland as in the northern, an apparent anomaly which possibly may be owing to less attention being paid to the subject there. In the south of Wexford, the dates given for six years are, April 26, 27, 28; May 3, 5, 7 Footnote 4 The 30th of April has been noted as the earliest date of arrival in the neighbourhood of Tralee;Footnote 5 the 13th of May as the average time about Killaloe on the Shannon ; it has been remarked as an early instance that the call was heard at Edgeworthtown (co. Longford) on the 3rd of May, 1838.Footnote 6

The arrival of the corncrake in the north of Ireland has no connexion with the early or late state of the meadows. I have remarked the bird here when they hardly concealed its body from view, and in other years that it would not appear until two or three weeks after they were ready for its reception. Fields of grain and clover are also resorted to, so soon after the bird's arrival as they will afford shelter. Mr. Poole has heard it call early in the season from fields of furze in the county of Wexford, which were better cover at the time than the meadows, and were probably selected on that account.

Everywhere that we go in this island in the months of May, June, and early in July Footnote 7 (irrespective of the vicinity of rivers, which are considered to influence its distribution in Great Britain), except to the mountain top, or to stony and heath-covered tracts, the call of the corncrake is heard, not only at its favourite times, in the evening and during the night, but throughout the day.Footnote 8 From its frequenting the meadows or pastures nearest towns, and even those within them — as the grounds of the Royal Academical Institution, Belfast — the corncrake makes itself heard through the night over a great portion of the towns in Ireland. Owing to its late period of breeding, this bird suffers sadly during the mowing of our meadows, about which time it is generally engaged in incubation. Should it not fall a victim to the mower by the loss of its head, the nest being laid bare is deserted, or if the young have recently "come out," they are often either maimed or destroyed by the scythe. Bewick, in one of the inimitable tail-pieces to his British Birds represents the catastrophe first alluded to. Footnote 9 Fortunately the species is very prolific, laying not unfrequently about a dozen of eggs : the young can run nimbly so soon as they burst the shell.

It is remarked by Sir Win. Jardine respecting this rail, that —" In some parts it has decreased and without apparent cause ; in the vale of the Annan in the south of Scotland, ten years since, the bird was extremely common, its note being heard in almost every alternate field; at the present time it may almost be accounted rare, during last summer (1841) only one or two pairs being heard within a stretch of several miles — ' Brit. Birds vol. iii. p. 331. In the north of Ireland, the land-rail became very much scarcer about the same time as the partridge (see p. 58), and continued so for fully fifteen years. They were never more scarce than in 1843, but within the last very few summers they have, like that species, rapidly increased. At no period have I heard them more plentiful (for we hear rather than see the corncrake) than in the summer of 1848, about Cultra, on the borders of Belfast Bay. They were also numerous that season in various parts of Down and Antrim ; and in 1849 were equally abundant. Their scarcity for a long period seemed the more remarkable, as they had become, around Belfast, less an object of pursuit by sportsmen, than formerly. Their having ever been so, was unpopular, the bird being a general favourite, and viewed as one of the innocent " guests of summer," whose note is as well known as that of the cuckoo, and much more frequently heard. From its slow and slovenly mode of flight also, the corncrake is believed to fall too easy a sacrifice to the gun. So unwilling is this bird to take wing, that I have frequently seen it when running caught on the ground by dogs. The power of flight it can exert is, however, considerable when called forth by the pursuit of the peregrine falcon, as alluded to in the history of that bird.

For a short time only after arrival can the land-rail be followed by the sportsman without injury to the meadows or crops which it frequents. He does not again meet with it until the 20th of September, the first day of partridge-shooting in Ireland. So few are then seen, at least in the north, compared with the numbers in spring before they have bred, that the greater portion has doubtless migrated southwards. In all probability, the old birds which without " let or hindrance " have reared their brood, leave the country with them so soon as they are strong enough for the journey, as in like manner a large portion of swallows depart with their first brood in the month of August, when favourable weather and wind prevail. Occasional birds only, which frequent stubble and potato fields, like partridge, are met with at that time. Through the month of October, few occur, and afterwards their appearance is very rare.The instances within ten miles of Belfast noted after that time, are as follow : — November 5, 1831, a small bird, probably belonging to a late brood, was shot — November 1, 1834, one, and on the 19th of that month, a brace, were obtained : the latter among rushes on Devis mountain — December 22, 1836, "a pensioner" as to flight, but in good condition, was caught on a rushy field by a friend's setting-dog — December 16, 1840, a mild winter, one quite strong on the wing was shot, and proved to be in excellent condition — " January 10, 1788, eight or ten brace were flushed among the rocks at the Knockagh, one of which was shot : it was rather lean."Footnote 11 — On January 29, 1849, and February 1, 1821, single individuals were killed.

With respect to other parts of Ireland : — At Toomavara (Tipperary) a young bird unable to fly was once caught so late as the 18th of October. In the county of Wexford, land-rails are always met with by sportsmen in the month of October, but not in November. Footnote 12 On November 6th, 1848, one was shot in the co. of Cork ; twice in January, birds have been killed in the co. of Dublin, Footnote 13  and in the first week of February 1849, one was obtained in the Moyntaghs, co. Armagh.

The plumage of the laud-rail occasionally appears very pale in hue, and fawn-coloured varieties are sometimes met with. Mr. E. Davis, jun., of Clonmel, procured outhe 6th of August, 1841, "a very fine adult bird without the least appearance of ash-grey on the throat and under plumage, which colour was replaced by a rich yellowish-brown."

At the end of May 1832, 1 learned from a relative that one of these birds which he had then living, was taken when young in the preceding summer, and placed in his garden — a very large walled one — where it lived throughout the winter (which was, however, very mild), without being supplied with any food. I have known different land-rails to be kept upwards of a year where they were not exposed to the weather. They fed freely on bread and milk, potatoes, &c, and kept in good condition. Mr. R. Ball, some years ago, supplied me with the following note : — " A pair of corncrakes have passed two winters in the gardens of the Royal Zoological Society, Phoenix Park, Dublin, and seemed to enjoy excellent health. They inhabit a cage together with a ruff, starlings, thrushes, blackbirds, &c. A supply of chopped beef heart, of which all its denizens partake, is daily put in the cage. The corncrakes probably share in various other kinds of food supplied by visitors to the gardens. They show no symptoms of torpidity, though much exposed to cold. The species simulates death when surprised, and in this state, probably, has been supposed to be torpid."

The following interesting history of corncrakes kept in the house of Mr. Spear, Carrickfergus, has been procured by the kindness of Mr. G. C. Hyndman. The first one (full-grown at the time, but probably a young bird of the year) was obtained in a street of that town when hay was being housed, in the autumn of 1823. It became quite tame, and partook of food very various in kind, such as groats (few, however, of them), raw meat, bread and milk, stirabout and milk, yolk of boiled eggs, and butter, which last was especially relished. It also ate worms, snails, slugs, &c.,Footnote 13 and has been seen to take small sticklebacks (Gasterostei) that happened to be in the water. This bird was very cleanly, and washed every morning in a basin of water set apart for the purpose. It was accustomed to be taken up stairs at night, and brought down in the morning ; and of its own accord habitually went out of the cage into a basket containing moss, where the night was passed, and in the morning likewise left the basket and entered the cage in which it was carried down stairs. When allowed to go about the house, the persons to whom it was attached were sought for, and followed everywhere. On becoming unwell, the poor bird took possession of the lap of a member of the family, and looked up to her apparently for relief ; though when in health, it resisted all attempts at being handled, flying up at the intruder and snapping its mandibles together. Every spring it called with the usual crake, beginning very early in the morning; this was usually commenced in March, but on one occasion was uttered so early as the 3rd of February. As remarked of the bird after this period : — " It would crake quite impudently in the parlour, when brought there to be shown off." Moulting took place in the month of August ; but no symptoms of uneasiness appeared then, or at any particular season. At pairing time, this bird was very comical, coming up with its wings spread, and neck stretched out, after the manner of a turkey-cock, and uttering a peculiar croaking note. It would then make a sort of nest in the cage, croaking all the while, and carry a worm or piece of meat about in its bill. So great a favourite was this corncrake that its death was duly chronicled as taking place on the 14th of January, 1830, after having been kept for above six years.

Another corncrake lived for three or four years in the same cage with the one described. Having been wounded by a dog, it suffered much for a time after being received, yet ate heartily, and, with great care, soon recovered. This individual never showed the same degree of intelligence or tameness as the other. It was not so partial to washing, perhaps owing to its wounded state, but had the same habit of going to and from the day-cage to the basket where the night was spent. It craked in the season, though not so much as the other, and never exhibited the amusing attitudes at pairing-time which have been alluded to. The sex was not known in either instance. The call is generally attributed by naturalists to the male only. Attempts were made to rear others unsuccessfully : on one occasion a young one was put- into the cage with two old birds, which seemed fond of their charge, and endeavoured to induce it to eat by presenting worms in their bills, but ineffectually.

Mr. Knox, in his agreeable Ornithological Rambles in Sussex mentions as a vulgar belief in the county, that cuckoos become hawks in winter. Such is also a prevalent notion among the uneducated in the north of Ireland. In like manner, it is believed here that the corncrake becomes awaterhen {Gattinula chloropus) in winter.

Mr. W. R. Wilde, author of the ' Narrative of a Yoyage to Madeira, the Mediterranean &c, mentioned to me on his return, that when at Algiers in the month of December he saw several land-rails, and was told that the species wintered there.

stretch during the time. was met with in a rushy field on the 25th of September : on the 3rd of October I saw one quite fresh in a poulterer's shop in Edinburgh.
 * Footnote 1 Leigh, in his ' Natural History of Lancashire/ informs us that " the rale is a bird about the bigness of a partridge, and is common in these parts ; it hides itself in the grass, and is discovered by the snarling noise that it continually makes ; it is very excellent food, and doubtless of extraordinary nutriment." — P. 162.
 * Footnote 2 Yarrell, ' Brit. Birds.'
 * Footnote 3 Ibid. Mr. Selby remarks : — In the north of England " it is seldom observed before the beginning of May," vol. ii. p. 177.
 * Footnote 4 Mr. Poole.
 * Footnote 5 Mr. T. F. Neligan.
 * Footnote 6 Rev. T Knox.
 * Footnote 7 In 1832, an ornithological friend remarked respecting the neighbourhood of Belfast, that after the 13th of July he rarely heard them call at night. On the 25th of that month, I listened to one in 1845, as I did to single birds on the nights of the 28th and 29th in 1848, in different districts. The 18th of July has been noted as the latest time at which they called about Killaloe. Mr. Hyndman heard them during three days in the first week of August 1845, which he spent on Tory Island, off the county of Donegal. They are stated to visit that island annually. I was told when in the island of Islay (Scotland) that they are numerous there every summer.
 * Footnote 8 A night watchman in a bleach-green near Belfast, considers that for some time after arrival the birds call by night before they do so by day, and consequently that he is aware of their presence before most other persons — on " nights which are close, and some warming rain," they first make themselves known. Sir Win. Jardine states, that "the crake is uttered by the bird when running, but more frequently when seated on some stone or clod." — 'Brit. Birds,' vol. iii. p. 332. Such birds as have come under my own notice when calling, were stationary, their necks erect and at full
 * Footnote 9 Vignette to the Dotterel, p. 328, in edit, of 1821.
 * Footnote 10 A friend shooting at Aberarder, in the north of Inverness-shire, reported a brace as shot in the third week of September 1838 ; and when there myself in 1842, one
 * Footnote 11 M'Skimmin's ' History of Carrickfergus.'
 * Footnote 12 Major T. Walker.
 * Footnote 13 Mr. R. J. Montgomery.
 * Footnote 14 I have known the horse-leech {Hlrudo sanguisuga) to be found in stomachs of land-rails killed iu a wild state. Three stomachs examined by me on May 15 (1849) exhibited similar food, consisting of the remains of coleopterous insects (which when perfect would have been five lines in length) and of small snails (Limaces) as shown by their shells (Limacellce), and these only ; the animals themselves having wholly disappeared. Fragments of stone also appeared in these three stomachs. The snail must be rapidly digested in the stomachs of birds generally, as in some hundred cases that have come under my examination the internal shell alone has borne witness to its having ever been there.