All rights reserved. Mat, 1916. 



BIRD NOTES: 



THE 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



The Amazon Rail. 



By W, Shore Baily. 



I'm calling my bird the Amazon Rail. I have no wish 

 for it to be thought that it is the one and only rail to be 

 found on that noble river, tO; which this name would apply. 

 There are probably tnany other species to be met with along 

 its course of 3,500 miles, with perhap^g a greater right to the 

 title. Still, this is the way it was described to me by Mr. 

 Cross, of Liverpool. I know it by no other name, so the 

 Amazon Rail it will have to be, and I must leave it to the 

 scientists to put a Latin name to it, should they so desire. 

 I gather from Mr. Cross that two of them came over, one of 

 which escaped. This was a misfortune a^s I should have liked 

 to try and breed them. 



It is an extremely attractive bird, both in appearance 

 and demeanour. It is about the size of our Moorhen but has 

 longer legs. The crown of the head and back are golden 

 brown, neck and throat, bluish grey; breast bright chestnut; 

 abdomen and tail black ; wings reddish brown ; legs carmine ; 

 bill yellow. A very effective colour arrangement indeed. 



It is absolutely tame, likes being petted, and will 

 stand to be stroked just like a cat or dog. It eats anything. 

 I had some difficulty in photographing it, as it would insist 

 on trying to' eat the camera lens. When I enter the aviary 

 the first thing" in the morning, it greets me with loud clucks, 

 not unlike those of a broody hen; at other times it points its 

 beak at the ground and pretends not to see me, and on being 

 approached puts its head between its legs, and walks slowly 

 off in a curious and stilted manner. It has norve of the stalk- 



