File:Indian sporting birds (1915) (14750590475).jpg

Identifier: indiansportingbi00finn (find matches)
Title: Indian sporting birds
Year: 1915 (1910s)
Authors: Finn, Frank, 1868-1932 Hume, Allan Octavian, 1829-1912 Marshall, Charles Henry Tilson, 1841-
Subjects: Birds -- India Game and game-birds -- India
Publisher: London : Francis Edwards
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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nhaunts being the broads in Sind, where it feeds on water-insects. This, like the spotted crake, is a well-known bird in Europe,and does not extend farther than Central Asia to the eastward. Eastern Baillons Crake. * Porzana pusilla. Jhilli, Nepalese. This little bird is even smaller than the little crake, butclosely resembles it, having a black-streaked, white-splashedupper-surface and under-parts grey in front and with whitecross-bars behind; but in the present, bird the cock and henare alike, and it is only the young which differ in having thebreast and throat bufdsh instead of grey. But the easiest wayto distinguish these two tiny crakes, or pigmy moorhens as theymight be called, from their habits, is to remember that in theEastern Baillons crake the first wing-quill has a white edge*whereas in the little crake this is not the case. This Eastern race of Baillons crake of Europe, the originalPorzana hailloni, has a dark-brown streak along the face which is * Crex hailloni on plate.
Text Appearing After Image:
WHITY-BROWN CRAKE 109 wanting in the Western form ; it is generally distributed in Indiaand Burma, and is generally resident, though a good manycome in in the cold weather from countries to the northward.It reaches not only Ceylon, but the Andamans, and breeds asfar south as Tavoy. In the plains it may be found nesting up to September,but though nesting begins about the same time in the Himalayas—in June—it does not go on so late there. Wild rice, or ricecultivatipii, is its favourite haunt, although it is found whereverthere is low cover by the waterside, and it shifts about thecountry a good deal in order to find these desirable conditions.It swims and runs on aquatic plants like the little crake, anddives readily if pressed ; but it is shyer, and comes out less intothe open, keeping more to swampy places than the open wateritself. It is a sociable bird, several being usually found neartogether, and is also rather noisy, the voice being, accordingto Hume a single note, repeated

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