THE LANDRAIL. 335 



A little before the summer solstice, when the her- 

 bage is thick and close, the Landrails set about the 

 duties of nesting. The nest is placed in the clover fields, 

 amongst the mowing grass, and but seldom or never in 

 the grain fields. It is a much better made nest than we 

 should probably suppose, and made in a small hole in 

 the ground. The materials used are coarse and dry- 

 stems of herbage, sometimes a few dry leaves, and lined 

 with the finer grasses. The eggs, from eight to twelve 

 in number, and often sat on as soon as laid; are some- 

 what small for the size of the bird, and warm yellow in 

 ground colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown 

 of various shades, and light gray and purple. They are 

 subject to no little degree of variation, and you will 

 sometimes find one ^^^ pale blue in ground colour, 

 speckled with reddish-brown, amongst a clutch of the 

 usual colour. The parent Rail displays silent motions as 

 her protective power, and upon the least alarm she quits 

 her eggs and makes ofi" silently through the herbage. 

 The bird will sometimes remain silently sitting upon her 

 eggs, and sit so closely as to lose her life by an unlucky 

 stroke of the mower's scythe. Landrails will not un- 

 frequently remove their eggs to a safer retreat if their 

 nest is repeatedly disturbed. Young Landrails are 

 covered with black down, and their actions are fully as 

 shy and retiring as their parents' ; and if captured when 

 only half matured, they will bite and struggle fiercely for 

 freedom. 



The autumnal movements of these birds are even 

 more difficult to describe than the vernal ones, simply 

 because the birds are silent for months before they quit 

 their haunts. When the grass fields are shorn of their 

 crops, and the hay is gathered in, the Landrails retreat 

 to the clover fields, where they can find seclusion amongst 



