A RARE BIRD

Hokitika Guardian, 13 September 1940, Page 6

A RARE BIRD

DEAD MARSH CRAKE FQUtfD

(Per Press Association—Copyright).

WELLINGTON, September. 12;

A small brown bird, speckled with grey and black, was picked up dead on a farm near Featherston. Thinking be* had never seen a bird quite like it, the finder, Mr G. T. Sorensen, sent it to the Dominion'Museum for identification. Although they were easily able to recognise it, the museum ornithologists tbad not seen one like it either at close quarters, for the bfrd was ft marsh crake, perhaps most seldom seen of all .New Zealand birds.

Sliv, and. inhabifating the depths of lonply swamps, the marsh crake is . at best .only to .be glimpsed, scuttling.,between - the, or swimming at. the edge of pools, in;.fhe morsilm s Its incqnspieiiqus .cpjqujs, and,..remote jmhitat, make it a kjrd. very, seep at. close ~ quarters., r For si mi la r reasons, it has been . Jijttfe in. Nqw Zealand; its breeding ( habits haye not ‘e 'been . obsefvecl here, and; jt js very seldom indeed that specimens are : brought. in . for examination. . .-.e

The marsh crake is remarkable, for its bright ; red eyes, its .long slender toes, and its jaunty way of carrying its tail, reminiscent of a. swqmp. lien, although’ its feet are imt webbed,' it is a good'swimmer. It lives, on shellfisli, pond, snails, and seeds. It is found in many countries, as wel) 'as New Zealand. , > '