WATER-RAIL. 219 



something like a rat darting out from under the roots of a 

 bush, and apparently making for the river. When the dog 

 approached its hiding-place again, the Rail, as I now perceived 

 it to be, instead of taking to flight and putting the Itchen 

 between it and its pursuer, deliberately doubled, and running 

 past the dog, which had an insecure foothold on the sloping 

 bank, scudded some fifty yards back along the latter, and hid 

 up. The retriever retraced his steps, and again drove the Rail 

 towards the river, but the bird repeated its doubling manoeuvre, 

 and the dog had to resume the chase again from the starting point. 

 At last the Rail took flight, and flew across the river with reluct- 

 ance, with its legs hanging down, when I shot it. During the 

 whole of the chase this bird uttered no sound; but the Water- 

 Rail has a note, which Naumann describes as a clear, shrill, 

 but melodious kreek^ uttered principally during the evening 

 when preparing to migrate. During the pairing season, at 

 evening time, it utters a liquid wheet^ not unlike that of the 

 Nuthach. The food of the bird consists of worms, insects, 

 snails, and gnats, and it also eats the tender shoots of aquatic 

 plants, or the seeds of reeds and sedge, according to 

 Seebohm. Mr. Howard Saunders says that "during the 

 breeding season Water-Rails are very noisy, uttering a loud 

 groaning cro-o-o-an^ called ' sharming ' in Norfolk.'' 



Nest.— A nest found by Seebohm and Mr. Howard Saunders 

 in the Norfolk Broads is described as being "admirably con- 

 cealed. It was about a foot from the ground, but had a solid 

 foundation under it, formed by the roots of the clump of rushes, 

 in the midst of which it was built. It was carefully made ol 

 flat sedge and the flat leaves of the reed, lined with dry broken 

 pieces of round slender reeds." 



Eggs. — Five to seven in number, but sometimes as many as 

 nine or eleven. Ground-colour creamy or pinkish-stone, with a 

 few spots of rufous distributed over the egg, or clustering 

 towards the larger end. The egg is double-spotted, the under- 

 lying spots being lilac-grey, and nearly as distinct as the over- 

 lying ones. As a rule the rufous spots are small, but 

 occasionally they are large and form blotches towards the 

 big end of the egg. Axis, 1*4-1 '5 inchj diam., i •0-1-05. 



