RALLID^. 



501 



^ --^^^^ ..^^^^^ 



THE WATER-RAIL. 



Rallus aquaticus, Linnteus. 



The Water-Rail may be considered a resident in most of the 

 marshy districts of England ; but there is evidence that a consider- 

 able number of the birds which have been bred in this country 

 move southward in autumn, their place being taken by emigrants 

 from the north. In the vicinity of the Norfolk ' broads ' it is some- 

 what abundant, and in 1883 upwards of two hundred eggs were 

 received by one dealer from Yarmouth, others being supplied as 

 well — a traffic much to be regretted. In Scotland it is found in 

 suitable localities on the mainland, and also on the outlying islands ; 

 even passing the winter in the Shetlands, where Dr. Saxby noticed 

 that, when the frost set in, it would visit enclosed places, such as 

 corn-yards, though he never discovered any grain in the stomachs 

 of the specimens obtained. In Ireland it is also sedentary, though 

 more frequently remarked in winter, when the herbage, which at 

 other times conceals it, is scanty. 



This species is only recorded as an autumn-visitor to the Faeroes, 

 but it appears to remain all the year in Iceland, while on October 

 15th 1882 a single example was obtained as far north as the island 

 of Jan Mayen. In Norway it has been found up to Ranenfjord 

 (close to the Arctic circle), and near Bergen it is to some extent 

 stationary ; but in Sweden, except the south-west, it is only a summer- 

 visitor, and it is rare in the Baltic Provinces of Russia, though 



