Family RALLIDAE. 



Rallus aquaticus L. — Water-Rail. 



(Plate 130, fig. a-c). 

 (Snouckacrt: Avifauna Necrlandica, p. 88, No. 207). 



Colour of surface of shell: 



Colour of spots: 



Average dimensions: 

 Average weiglit of shell: 

 Texture of shell: 

 Shape: 

 Nest: 



Site of nest: 



Number of eggs : 

 Breeding season: 

 Duration of incubation: 

 Remark : 



light cream-colour; yellowish white; some- 

 times greenish white. 



red brown; underlying spots show tlirough 

 ashgrey. 



35 X 26 millimetres. 



0.9 gram. 



particularly finely granulated. 



ovoidal or more bellied. 



consists of dry blades of reeds, rushes and 

 blades of grass. 



in marshes and other permanently moist spots, 

 overgrown with grass and willow-or alder- 

 bushes, under the shelter of a tall plant 

 or shrub, often near the side of a ditch. 



6—10 (sometimes more). 



April— June. 



about 21 days. 



As compared with eggs of crcx those of 

 aquaticus are distinguishable by : — 1. smal- 

 ler size; 2. finer shell; 3. paler ground- 

 colour; 4. sparser marking; and 5. mostly 

 rounder shape of the spots. 



In NozEMAN ') the egg-type of this species 

 is also wrongly depicted. 



Ned. Vogelen, III (added on the plate of Aims marila). 



