. An illustrated manual of British birds . ay-break are almost the only timeswhen it is to be seen, and if disturbed it runs like a water-rat ratherthan take wing. The food consists of insects and their larvae, smallmolluscs, and a little vegetable matter. The adult male has the bill green, base red; irides red ; crown,neck and upper parts generally, warm brown, with flecks of blackand white ; cheeks, throat and breast slate-grey ; flanks and undertail-coverts conspicuously barred with black and white ; outer web offirst primary lohite. Length 7 in. ; wing 35 in. The female hasthe chin nearly
. An illustrated manual of British birds . ay-break are almost the only timeswhen it is to be seen, and if disturbed it runs like a water-rat ratherthan take wing. The food consists of insects and their larvae, smallmolluscs, and a little vegetable matter. The adult male has the bill green, base red; irides red ; crown,neck and upper parts generally, warm brown, with flecks of blackand white ; cheeks, throat and breast slate-grey ; flanks and undertail-coverts conspicuously barred with black and white ; outer web offirst primary lohite. Length 7 in. ; wing 35 in. The female hasthe chin nearly white ; the under parts paler grey; the wing-covertsmore profusely spotted with white, and the neck streaked with darkbrown on a paler ground than in the male. The young bird (in thebackground) resembles her in the colour of the upper parts, and inthe faintness of the white line on the outer web of the first primary;the throat is white, and the under parts are barred with two shadesof brown, soon turning to grey in the males. RALLID^. 501. ^ --^^^^ ..^^^^^ THE WATER-RAIL. Rallus aquaticus, Linnteus. The Water-Rail may be considered a resident in most of themarshy districts of England ; but there is evidence that a consider-able number of the birds which have been bred in this countrymove southward in autumn, their place being taken by emigrantsfrom the north. In the vicinity of the Norfolk broads it is some-what abundant, and in 1883 upwards of two hundred eggs werereceived by one dealer from Yarmouth, others being supplied aswell—a traffic much to be regretted. In Scotland it is found insuitable localities on the mainland, and also on the outlying islands;even passing the winter in the Shetlands, where Dr. Saxby noticedthat, when the frost set in, it would visit enclosed places, such ascorn-yards, though he never discovered any grain in the stomachsof the specimens obtained. In Ireland it is also sedentary, thoughmore frequently remarked in winter, when the herbage, which at
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidillustra, booksubjectbirds
