2 20 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



country is on record, there is at least presumptive 

 evidence of its having done so (Zool., 1848, p. 1969 ; 

 "Birds of Middlesex," p. 165; and Gurney, Zool., 

 1894, p. 88; 1895, p. 98). In the last-mentioned 

 case, a pair were observed at Rollesby Broad, Norfolk, 

 and probably nested, as they were seen there during 

 the months of May, June, and July. The skulk- 

 ing habits of these birds, and the almost impassable 

 nature of the swamps which they frequent, render 

 detection, except by accident, extremely difficult. 



In The Zoologist for 1894 (p. 454) will be found 

 two figures of the Little Bittern, drawn from photo- 

 graphs of a living bird, illustrating the protective 

 coloration of the plumage, which, as in the case of 

 its larger relative, renders it almost invisible in a 

 reed bed at the distance of a few yards from the 

 observer. 



Order X. FULICARIAE 

 Fam. RALLID^. 



WATER-RAIL. Rallus aquaticus, Linnaeus. PI. 26, 

 fig. 9. Length, 10 in. ; bill, 1*25 in. ; wing, 4*75 in. ; 

 tarsus, 1*5 in. 



Resident, but migratory also in spring and 

 autumn ; the birds which remain with us throughout 

 the winter receiving considerable accessions to their 

 numbers in March and April, these numbers being 

 again visibly diminished in the fall of the year. 



It is especially abundant in summer about the 

 Norfolk Broads, whence a dealer at Yarmouth is in 



