WATER RAIL. 541 



Doncaster " (1866), it bred in that district in olden times, 

 before the drainage and reclamation of the " Carrs " ; Mr. 

 Thos. Bunker reports, in 1880, a nest at Airmyn, near Goole ; 

 Thomas Allis mentioned the capture of a young bird at Salter- 

 hebble, near Halifax, before 1844 ; near Wakefield a nest is 

 said, on the authority of Mr, J. Emmet, to have been found 

 on the banks of a canal ; the species used to breed in the valley 

 between Thornton and Bradford, and may still do so, but 

 is very scarce now ; in Ribblesdale it has bred on Austwick 

 moors, as mentioned by the Rev. E. Peake in the Naturalist 

 (1896, p. 45) ; in Wharfedale the nest was found at Boston 

 Spa in 1884 and 1885, according to Mr. J. Emmet {op. cit. 

 1885, p. 299) ; it has also been discovered near Low Mills, 

 while at Fewston and in the Nidd Valley the bird has bred 

 sparingly. 



In the Beverley and Hornsea districts of the East Riding 

 the Water Rail breeds annually, and, notwithstanding the 

 density of the herbage and the aquatic vegetation forming its 

 surroundings, the nest and eggs have been found several 

 times, while at Scampston, Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, although 

 not having had ocular proof of nidification, has no doubt of 

 its occurrence. Near Scarborough, the late A. Roberts stated 

 (MS. 1880), that he had eggs taken from the Mere " a few 

 years ago " ; further north and still on the coast line, the 

 young have been caught in a field near Whitby, the old ones 

 being also seen at the time by J. Kitching, who communi- 

 cated the fact to Mr. Thomas Stephenson in 1880 ; a nest was 

 found at Newby Wiske, near Northallerton, in 1880 or 1881, 

 and at Bedale the call note has been heard, and the birds 

 observed, in summer. 



In the Cleveland division it was found breeding about 

 1870 in Westerdale, by Mr. Husband, who informed Mr. 

 Thomas Stephenson of Whitby that he and a companion saw 

 the female bird come off the nest, which contained two eggs. 

 At the Teesmouth I have positive evidence of the occurrence 

 of the bird in the breeding season so far back as 1882, and 

 down to the present year, but the nest has not as yet been 

 reported, though I found one on the Durham side of the river 



