It makes its appearance about the same time as the quail, and frequents the same places, whence it is called in some counties the king of the quails. Its well known cry is first heard as soon as the grass becomes long enough to shelter it, and continues till the grass is cut; but the bird is seldom seen, for it constantly skulks among the thickest part of the herbage, and runs so nimbly through it, winding and doubling in every direction, that it is difficult to come near it; when hard pushed by the dog, it sometimes stops short and squats down, by which means its too eager pursuer overshoots the spot, and loses the trace. It seldom springs but when driven to extremity, and generally flies with its legs hanging down, but never to a great distance; as soon as it alights it runs off, and before the fowler has reached the spot, the bird is at a considerable distance.
The corncrake leaves the island before the winter, and repairs to other countries in search of its food, which consists principally of slugs, of which it destroys prodigious numbers; it likewise feeds on worms and insects, as well as on seeds of various kinds. It is very common in Ireland, and is seen in great numbers in the Island of Anglesea on its passage to that country. On its first arrival in England, it is so lean as to weigh less than six ounces, from which one would conclude that it must have come from distant parts; before its departure, however, it has been known to exceed eight ounces, and is then very delicious eating.
The female lays ten or twelve eggs on a nest made of a little moss or dry grass, carelessly put together; they are of a pale ash-colour, marked with rust-coloured spots. The young crakes are covered with black down; they soon find the use of their legs, for they follow the mother immediately after they have burst the shell.
This is deemed a bird of passage by all the writers: yet from its formation seems to be poorly qualified for migration; for its wings are short, and placed so forward, and out of the centre of gravity, that it flies in a very heavy and embarrassed manner, with its legs hanging down; and can hardly be sprung a second time, as it runs very fast, and seems to depend more on the swiftness of its feet than on its flying.
When we came to draw it, we found the entrails so soft and tender, that in appearance they might have been dressed like the ropes of a woodcock. The craw or crop was small and lank, containing a mucus; the gizzard thick and strong, and filled with small shell snails, some whole, and many ground to pieces through the attrition which is occasioned by the muscular force and motion of that intestine. We saw no gravels among the food: perhaps the shell snails might perform the function of gravels or pebbles, and might grind one another.
That it is a bird of passage there can be little doubt, though one would think it poorly qualified for migration, on account of the wings being short, and not placed in the exact centre of gravity: how that may be I cannot say, but I know that its heavy sluggish flight is not owing to its inability of flying faster, for I have seen it fly very swiftly, although in general its actions are sluggish. Its unwillingness to rise proceeds, I imagine, from its sluggish disposition, and its great timidity, for it will sometimes squat so close to the ground as to suffer itself to be taken up by the hand, rather than rise; and yet it will at times run very fast.
What Mr. White remarks respecting the small shell snails found in its gizzard, confirms my opinion, that it frequents corn fields, seed clover, and brakes or fern, more for the sake of snails, slugs, and other insects which abound in such places, than for the grain or seeds; and that it is entirely an insectivorous bird.—Bewick—White’s Selborne—Wood.
Laneret, s. A little hawk.