. Natural history. Zoology. WATER-RAILSâWOOD-RAILS. 249 Ttie Bails.â Sub-Family BallincE. type of tliis section. The water-rail is certainly not a bird to be observed every day. It is the inipersonification of shyness and retiring habits. A coot or a moor-hen is often seen in the open, and may be observed from the windows of a railway train, swimming about on lalces or pools of water, the coot easily discernible by its waxy-white shield on the forehead, the moor-hen by its red frontal shield and the bright red garter above the hock, which is easily in evidence as it swims. The water-rail, on t
. Natural history. Zoology. WATER-RAILSâWOOD-RAILS. 249 Ttie Bails.â Sub-Family BallincE. type of tliis section. The water-rail is certainly not a bird to be observed every day. It is the inipersonification of shyness and retiring habits. A coot or a moor-hen is often seen in the open, and may be observed from the windows of a railway train, swimming about on lalces or pools of water, the coot easily discernible by its waxy-white shield on the forehead, the moor-hen by its red frontal shield and the bright red garter above the hock, which is easily in evidence as it swims. The water-rail, on the con- trary, is never seen, nor can its voice be heard, like that of the noisy corn- crake. It is a bird of the reed-beds and the marshes, and is so disinclined for flight, that even when pursued by a dog, it will double and turn and twist, rather than fly, and is often caught by the dogs before it can bring itself to use its wings. The eggs are numerous, from seven to eleven in number, of a creamy white, double-spotted, with reddish - brown overlying spots and ashy - grey underlying ones. Tho nest is well concealed among coarse herbage, of which it is composed, and the young are covered with black down, and can take care of themselves soon after they are hatched, swimming and diving, and managing to conceal themselves from danger in a marvellous manner. The water-rails are found all over the New World, and also in the Old World, except in the Indo-Malayan sub-region and the whole of the Australian region, where their place is taken by the barred rails (Hypotcerddia). In the tropical regions of South America, Limnopardalus replaces the genus Eallus, and in the islands of the Aus- tralian region, the dusky rails {Cahalxia) are one of the most curious forms of bird-life. In the Chatham Islands is, or rather was, found C. dieffenbachii, now believed to be extinct, and in these islands also occurs C. modestus, a dusky-brown species, which cannot fly, and is also on the verge of
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