OF THE BKITISII ISLANDS. 79 



Family RALLID^L Genus EALLUS. 



Subfamily 



WATER RAIL. 



RALLUS AQUATICUS. Linnceus. 

 PLATE XIII. 



Rallus aquaticus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 262 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 521 (1852); 

 Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 257, pi. 495 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 159 

 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 552 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx 

 (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs, Brit. B. p. 338 (1893) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxiii. p. 20 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 86, pi. 22 (1896) ; Sharpe, 

 Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. 216 (1897). 



Geographical distribution. British: The Water Rail is a partial 

 migrant in our islands, although it may be found at all seasons widely dis- 

 tributed throughout suitable localities, extending even to the Outer Hebrides, the 

 Orkneys, and the Shetlands. It is perhaps most abundant in the Norfolk Broads. 

 In some districts it is most abundant in summer ; in others, during winter. 

 Foreign : West Palsearctic region. It is a resident in Iceland, and occurs on 

 autumn passage on the Faroes ; whilst a single example has been obtained on 

 the island of Jan Mayeii (lat 71), the most northern limit of its recorded range. 

 It is a summer migrant to Scandinavia up to lat 63, and is said to be resident near 

 Bergen in Norway and to be occasionally observed during winter in the extreme 

 south-west of Sweden. It breeds in West Russia up to Riga, and accidentally 

 strays to St. Petersburg ; in East Russia its limits are about the same. Although 

 apparently absent from West Siberia, it breeds in Russian and Chinese Turkestan 

 as far east as Yarkand. It passes Cashmere on migration, and winters in North- 

 west India. Returning westwards, it is chiefly known in Afghanistan, Persia, 

 Asia Minor, Palestine, Greece, and Egypt south to Abyssinia as a winter visitor, 

 but a few remain to breed in many localities. It is a resident in Central and 

 Southern Europe, and also in Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco, but is most 

 abundant in winter in the south and east, and in summer in the north and west. 



Allied forms. Rallus indicus, an inhabitant, in summer, of the Lake 

 Baikal district in South-east Siberia, the valley of the Amoor, Japan, and Northern 

 China; and of Southern China, Burma, East and South India, and Ceylon, in 

 winter. Differs from the Water Rail (from which it is probably only subspeci- 

 fically distinct) in having the slate-grey of the underparts more or less suffused 



