. An illustrated manual of British birds . ke wing; a solitary person, advanc-ing stealthily can, however, approach sufficiently near for observa-tion, and a dog will often capture a sitting bird. During the breed-ing-season Water-Rails are very noisy, uttering a loud groaningcro-o-o-an, called sharming in Norfolk. The food consists ofaquatic plants, worms, slugs and snails. The adult male has the bill red ; irides hazel; feathers of thecrown, hind neck and upper surface olive-brown, with black streaksdown the centres ; quills dusky-brown ; cheeks, neck, and breast lead-grey ; flanks nearly bl
. An illustrated manual of British birds . ke wing; a solitary person, advanc-ing stealthily can, however, approach sufficiently near for observa-tion, and a dog will often capture a sitting bird. During the breed-ing-season Water-Rails are very noisy, uttering a loud groaningcro-o-o-an, called sharming in Norfolk. The food consists ofaquatic plants, worms, slugs and snails. The adult male has the bill red ; irides hazel; feathers of thecrown, hind neck and upper surface olive-brown, with black streaksdown the centres ; quills dusky-brown ; cheeks, neck, and breast lead-grey ; flanks nearly black, barred with white; vent pale buff; legsand feet brownish flesh-colour. Length 11 5; wing 475. Thefemale is duller in colour, and frequently exhibits some distinctwhite bars on the wing-coverts. The young bird has the underparts of a dull buffish-white, speckled on the throat and barredon the flanks with dark brown ; while the upper parts have a moreolive tint than in the adult. The nestling is covered with blackdown. RALLID^.. ;:;. THE MOOR-HEN. CjAllixula chloropus (). This familiar species, also known as the Water-hen, is generally dis-tributed throughout the British Islands, and is, as a rule, stationary ;though a partial migration takes place in winter from the northerndistricts where the cold weather is severe and continuous. Other-wise the Moor-hen manages to exist very well during frosts, resortingto running streams when ponds are frozen over, and finding shelterin plantations, hedge-rows and thick bushes. Its trivial name hadits origin at the time when moor was equivalent to mire or marsh. The Moor-hen is an irregular visitor to the Fteroes, and onlybreeds sparingly in Scandinavia up to lat. 6y, while in Russia itseldom nests as far north as St. Petersburg. Throughout the rest ofEurope it is more or less common in suitable localities ; and it issedentary in the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores, as well as inAfrica north of the Sahara; its numbers in the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidillustra, booksubjectbirds
