156 British Birds, 



with finer materials witliin." From seven to ten e^gs 

 appears to be the number laid, and they vary very 

 much in their ground-colour, between a pale brown- 

 ish-dun and a slightly yellow-white, the spots or 

 blotches being of a reddish brown of some intensity. — 

 Fig. b, plate IX. 



r,, LITTLE CRAKE— (Porsana parra ; formerly, 

 ^ Orx pusilla). 



Olivaceous Gallinule, Little Gallinule. — Strictly 

 speaking, still a rare bird in this country, 



BAILLON'S CRkYJ^—iPorzana Baillonii ; 

 % " formerly, Crex Baillonii). 



More rare than the last, and, perhaps, occasionally 

 confused with it. 



^[ . WATER-RAIL— (7?rt//«j aquatints). 



Bilcock, Skiddycock, Runner, Brook-runner, Velvet- 

 runner. — One of the very shiest of our British birds, 

 and thus seeming to be much more rare than it really 

 is. I have seen it at all seasons of the year, though 

 it is, I am well aware, less tolerant of cold than many 

 others of our winter-staying birds. Its motions on 

 the bank of a stream, when suddenly disturbed, are 

 much more like those of a Water Rat than a bird. It 

 breeds with some degree of commonness in several of 

 the southern counties. I obtained two nests from 

 the estate in Norfolk elsewhere mentioned in these 

 pages, at the same time with the Woodcock's eggs, 

 and was informed that it bred regularly there. I had 



