27 SEPTEMBER 1930, Page 14

An observer, with a long experience on both sides of

the Atlantic, sends me a comment on emigrating birds which fits my personal experience. It concerns the comcrake. The species was very scarce in England, killed according to one popular theory by modern husbandry. Is it in- creasing ? I have seen the bird in the Midlands and Home Counties, and friends have seen it in Hereford and Surrey, and my correspondent in the North West. This is satisfactory as far as it goes, but all the records are of September, and the bird has never shown any sign, so far as I know, of growing scarce in Ireland. All these recorded appearitnces are probably of birds on migration. It is years since I heard of a nest in a district where the "crake" was once a regular sum- mer sound. Few migrants, I think, begin their great journey in shorter stages. How such a poor performer ever achieves the last long final dash passes all comprehension. If flushed once within a mere field it very rarely rises again even if hunted by a dog. * * « *