J. Lewis Bonhote

“ Returning to the Corncrake, the similarity of the moult in both sexes, with the subsequent although practically simultaneous assumption of the breeding plumage by the male, tends to show that, in this instance, the reason of the moult is not for the assumption of the breeding dress, for in that case it ought only to be undergone by the male. The evidence before us seems to point to the fact that the moult has no connection with the colour-change, but is due to some ulterior cause of which we are at present ignorant. ”

“ It is comparatively difficult to procure an individual of C. glacialis in full winter plumage (as described by Mr. Cecil Smith in his 'Birds of Somerset,' p. 540) , which resembles somewhat that of the immature birds; for as soon as the feather is formed, or even while growing, it commences, by a change of colour in the feather itself, to assume the distinguishing features of the breeding plumage for the following year ”

“ The males can be easily distinguished from the females during the summer months, as the breast, neck, and sides of the head are during that time of a delicate slaty grey colour. The plumage of the female hardly differs throughout the year. ”