160 lULLlD^E. 



pursuit, its progress through the air is slow, with the legs 

 hanging down ; and it drops again in the nearest bed of 

 reeds, flags, or rushes, that is likely, from its size or density, 

 to afford sufficient security. The compressed form of its 

 body enables it to pass easily through the thickest herbage ; 

 while its lengthened toes assist it to swim, and even to dive 

 when necessary for its safety. 



Generally distributed throughout England, Water Rails 

 are naturally more abundant in such localities as those 

 afforded by the Norfolk broads and their vicinity. Although 

 man}^ are resident throughout the year, yet a considerable 

 portion of those bred in this country are stated by Mr. 

 Stevenson to move southward in autumn, their places being 

 taken by migratory flights from the north ; and Mr. Han- 

 cock's experiences in Northumberland and Durham are of 

 a similar nature. In Scotland Water Rails are said by 

 Mr. R. Gray to be found in suitable localities both on the 

 mainland and in the remotest islands ; and in Shetland, 

 where they are rather scarce, Dr. Saxby found that when the 

 frost set in they would visit enclosed places, even venturing 

 into corn-yards, although he never discovered corn in their 

 stomachs even in the most severe winter. In Ireland this 

 species is also resident, although both there and elsewhere 

 it is more frequently remarked in winter, when the herbage, 

 which at other times conceals it, is scanty, and when it is 

 frozen out of the wet marshes. 



A regular visitant to the Faeroes, it is, according to Pro- 

 fessor Newton, apparently a resident in Iceland, although a 

 rare species there ; but it is not as yet recorded from Green- 

 land. In Norway it is only partially resident, breeding as 

 far north as Trondhjemsfiord ; and in Sweden, where the 

 winters are colder, it is only a summer visitor, except in the 

 south-western districts. Hardly known in Finland, where 

 the nature of the country is unsuitable, it is found locally, 

 and principally as a migrant, in Baltic Russia ; but in 

 Central Russia and Poland it passes the summer. In 

 Northern Germany, Denmark, and even in Holland, it 

 appears to be either comparatively rare or else is overlooked 



