178 OUR RARER BIRDS 



the needful cover. We have not a more skulking bird in our 

 country, and he is one that is very rarely seen in the open. 

 Seldom does he venture far from the friendly cover, until the 

 evening's dusk is falling and the big white fog banks roll 

 heavily over the fens — then you may sometimes catch a 

 glimpse of him as he timidly creeps out of the rushes into the 

 open spaces to feed. The least alarm, however, sends him 

 scurrying off into the reeds, or you hear his splash as he 

 drops suddenly into the stagnant water and hides in the 

 vesjetation near the bank. 



The haunts of the Water-Eail are a favourite resort of 

 many kinds of birds. The rare Marsh Harrier may some- 

 times be seen beating over the vast expanse of swamp and 

 broad and reed-bed, in search of eggs and birds. Where the 

 reeds grow tallest, you may perchance catch a hurried view of 

 the beautiful Bearded Titmouse; Eeed Warblers fill the swamps 

 w^ith melody; Cuckoos call from the pollard willows; Moorhens 

 and Coots and Grebes are everywhere ; and now and then a 

 Gull or a Black Tern may be seen ; and the Corn-Crake's 

 rasping call is heard from the tall grass and swampy meadows. 

 Big gray Herons fish in the quiet corners of the broads ; Wild 

 Ducks and Teals hold their revels in the deeper pools ; high 

 in air the Snipe is drumming, mingled with the Swifts and 

 Swallows ; and on the higher ground we may still flush the 

 Short-eared Owl from her nest. If the curious Spoonbill has 

 vanished, and the Bittern and the Avocet are seen no longer, 

 there is still much of all-absorbing interest here to tempt the 

 lover of nature to these wide expanses of marsh and reed- 

 fringed waters. At dusk the Water- Rail comes forth ; and in 

 the twilight you may see him, solitary as is his wont, 

 swimming across the open water from one bed of reeds to 

 another, or gliding like a dark shadow amongst the coarse 

 grass and rushes. You may often hear him utter his peculiar 

 grating note as he flies round and round above his watery 



