122 THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 



numerous pools on Braunton Burrows. " When 

 first observed, it was feeding out in the open ; but 

 as soon as it caught sight of me it scuttled off as 

 fast as it could, to the shelter of the thick rushes 

 which surrounded the pool ; and as it thus half ran, 

 half flew, I fired and winged it : and it was only 

 by searching each clump of rushes carefully with 

 my hands that I succeeded in finding it, as it had 

 crept into one of the thickest tufts, where it had 

 crouched down and was completely hidden " (Zool. 

 1876, p. 4844). 



WATER RAIL. — Rallus aquaticus, Linn. 



A RESIDENT species, chiefly noticed in the winter 

 months. The E/Cv. M. A. Mathew includes this 

 in a list of ' Birds which nest in Devon,' and 

 Mr. Mitchell has taken the nest in the North of the 

 County, though he regards the Water Rail as rare 

 in the breeding season. 



MOO'RE.EN.—GaUinuIa chloropus (Linn). 



A COMMON resident. Mr. Mitchell remarks that 

 the Dartmoor streams are unsuited to this species, 

 but in other parts of Devon it breeds freely. He 

 once found a nest iu an ivy -covered tree, twenty 

 feet above the water, and I frequently find the nest 

 in hawthorn bushes overhanging the water, and 

 more than ten feet above the surface. 



