WATER RAIL. 543 



running like a rat between the reed stems, but the united 

 efforts of the dog and myself failed to force it to rise. It is 

 occasionally found in the remote dales, and has been reported 

 from Malham Tarn on the north-western fells. In severe 

 winters it is driven out of its marshy retreats, being then 

 compelled to resort to more open districts, and is met 

 with by the sides of streams and ditches where there is 

 running water. It appears to resemble the Woodcock in its 

 partiality for certain localities, and may be found season 

 after season in the same place ; there used to be, until quite 

 recently, a little marshy strip of ground near Redcar which 

 never failed to produce a Water Rail as autumn came round, 

 and, though one bird might have been killed, another could 

 be flushed there the next season. 



A return migration takes place in spring, but of this 

 movement little appears to be known ; a specimen was taken 

 against the Spurn lantern in April 1899 ; another was found 

 below the Flamborough Lighthouse in 1904 ; at the Teesmouth 

 one was picked up under the telegraph wires on 13th April 

 1898, while my personal experience is limited to one instance 

 only, which, strangely enough, occurred in the town of Redcar, 

 and within a few yards of my house. On 13th April 1902, 

 I was called to see a " strange bird " in a cottage yard, where 

 fowls are kept, and discovered it to be a Water Rail perched 

 on the top of some wood placed against a wall ; I approached 

 to within five yards, when it flew over the wall and dis- 

 appeared ; the wind, which had been easterly for several 

 days previously, had probably brought it in. 



Of local names, Bilcock seems to be general ; Brook-runner 

 and Brook- ouzel are mentioned by Swainson, while Rat Bird, 

 Rat Hen, and Runner are terms applied to it at Sedbergh. 



