A Vanishing Bird Not long since, a tired — land-rail or corn-crake
descended into St. James's Park before proceeding on its migration. The event was the more sur- prising as the bird grows sadly tare. It is one of the victims of the new farming and of more extensive draining. The earlier cutting of grass destroys its nests or nesting places, and already superstitions about the habits of the bird find vogue, especially about its refusal to take wing. The truth is, I should say, that it will seldom rise a second time, though it is easily flushed once. In earlier days it was very common in bends of the Ouse, in wet land by the Wey, in Pembrokeshire marshes, and not least in Northern Ireland, where, I believe, it is still fairly numerous. It is probable that the great multiplication of moorhen (which will destroy the clutches even of wild duck) has made competition too difficult.
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