corn crake

noun

1. a short-billed Eurasian rail, Crex crex, frequenting grainfields.

Word History and Origins

Origin of corn crake¹

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

Then a nightingale began to give forth its long liquid gurgling; and a corn-crake churred in the young wheat.

From Project Gutenberg

This and the corn crake are the only two marsh birds that should properly be reckoned among house-birds.

From Project Gutenberg

She's quiet for five minutes then bursts out into song again like a chirruping cricket or a croaking corn-crake.

From Project Gutenberg

From a distant field came the dim wheezing of a corn-crake; nearer at hand a nightingale was beginning his epithalamic welcome.

From Project Gutenberg

And all of a sudden the solitary corn-crake cries from the wheat.

From Project Gutenberg