sails The proverbial use of the corn crake's call to describe someone with a grating or unmelodious voice is illustrated in the quotation "thanks to a wee woman with a voice like a corncrake who believed she was an apprentice angel". This usage dates from at least the first half of the nineteenth century, and continues through to the present. In music In The Pogues "Lullaby of London" Shane MacGowan uses the corncrake's cry as a motif to illustrate his alienation in the city, he sings: Though there is no lonesome corncrake's cry Or sorrow and delight You can hear the cars And the shouts from bars And the laughter and the fights In The Decemberists "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" Colin Meloy references the corn crake's call, singing: "And we'll lie until the corn crake crows." References Cited texts External links Feathers of corn crake (Crex crex) Upon Appleton House, to my Lord Fairfax by Andrew Marvell The Landrail by John Clare Corn crake species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds corn crake Birds of Eurasia Birds of Russia Birds of Southern Africa corn crake corn crake