The corn crake (Crex crex) is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia, and migrates to Africa for the northern hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- or grey-streaked brownish- black upperparts, chestnut markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail. The male's call is a loud krek krek, from which the scientific name is derived. The breeding habitat is grassland, particularly hayfields; the female builds a nest of grass leaves in a hollow in the ground and lays 6–14 cream-coloured eggs that hatch in 19 or 20 days. The bird is in steep decline across much of its former breeding range because modern farming practices often destroy nests before breeding is finished. It is omnivorous but mainly feeds on invertebrates, the occasional small frog or mammal, and some seeds. Natural threats include feral and introduced mammals, large birds, and various parasites and diseases. Although numbers have declined steeply in western Europe, the bird is classed as a species of least concern because of its huge range and large populations in Russia, Kazakhstan and western China.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_crake

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

869:

An earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the area around Sendai, Japan, leaving sand deposits up to 4 km (2.5 mi) inland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/869_Sanriku_earthquake

1572:

Nineteen Catholic friars and clerics were hanged in Gorkum during the 16th-century religious wars in the Low Countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Gorkum

1790:

Russo-Swedish War: During the Second Battle of Svensksund in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captured one third of the Russian fleet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Svensksund

1900:

Queen Victoria gave her Royal Assent to an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ratifying the Constitution of Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Australia

1922:

Johnny Weissmuller swam the 100-meter freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking a world swimming record and the "minute barrier." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Weissmuller

1995:

Sri Lankan Civil War: After having advised civilians to take shelter in places of worship, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in Navaly, killing at least 125 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaly_church_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

penitent: 1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life. 2. Doing penance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penitent

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Verily God is able to convert light into fire whenever He pleaseth; surely He is potent over all things. And were He to declare a person whom ye regard alien to the truth as being akin thereto, err not by questioning His decision in your fancies, for He Who is the Sovereign Truth createth things through the power of His behest. Verily God transmuteth fire into light as He willeth, and indeed potent is He over all things.   --The Báb https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b