Crex

Crex is a small genus of birds in the rail family. It contains two species, the corn crake, C. crex, which breeds across Europe and Asia and winters in southern Africa, and the African crake, C. egregia, which migrates within Africa. Both are short-billed rails with blackish-brown upperparts, mainly blue-grey underparts, and barring on the flanks. The corn crake is significantly larger than its relative, and has a distinctive chestnut patch on its wings. Unusually for their family, these are birds of dry habitats rather than wetlands; the Eurasian species mainly breeds in hay meadows, and the African crake in dry grassland. The African crake is sometimes given its own genus, Crecopsis, but is now more usually placed in Crex.