. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . n hard pressed. Little thickets bordering brooks, andsmall low-lying damp meadows, are localities to which they arepeculiarly partial. Their flight is heavy and slow, not elevated, butis generally in a direct line. In running, however, they are adepts,and the means they adopt for escaping their pursuers often succeed. THE COOT. 299 Rails are not gregarious, differing in this respect from the majorityof migratory birds, which generally assemble in flocks previ
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . n hard pressed. Little thickets bordering brooks, andsmall low-lying damp meadows, are localities to which they arepeculiarly partial. Their flight is heavy and slow, not elevated, butis generally in a direct line. In running, however, they are adepts,and the means they adopt for escaping their pursuers often succeed. THE COOT. 299 Rails are not gregarious, differing in this respect from the majorityof migratory birds, which generally assemble in flocks previous toundertaking their journeys. The nest is roughly constructed either in a hedgerow or in ameadow. The females lay from six to eight eggs. The young onesrun as soon as they are hatched, and grow very rapidly. Worms,insects, and shrimps, are their favourite food, but they do not rejectwild corn and other seeds. Their flesh is considered delicate, andis superior to that of the Water Hen ; in the autumn it acquires anexquisite flavour in the estimation of French gourmands. Rails, which are common in France, are vulgarly called the. Fig. 113.—Land Rail. king of the quails, probably from frequenting the same do not acquire their highest condition till the end of summer;this, therefore, is the proper time to kill them. Twenty species ofRails are enumerated, which are spread over the various countriesof the globe. However, the characteristic features of all are nearlyalike. These remarks almost equally apply to the Land Rail i^Crexpratensis, Fig. 113), and the Water Rail {Railus aquaticus). The Coot {Fulia) has a bill of moderate size, stout, tapering,much depressed, with a well-developed frontal plate ; the toes areslender, and edged with a broad, scalloped membrane. Their plumageis glossy, soft, full, and blended, and impervious to water. They areessentially aquatic, frequenting principally lakes and marshes, some- !00 REPTILES AND BIRDS. times the shores of est
Size: 1737px × 1439px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
