637 



RALLID^E. 



RAMBEH. 



633 



brown, and the abdomen is blackish-ash without the white bands. 

 (Temtninck.) 



Mr. Gould remarks that the sexes are alike in plumage, but that the 

 male is generally the largest. M. Temminck observes that they under- 

 go a double moult, but that there is no marked difference between the 

 two liveries. 



It is distributed generally all over Europe, but it is more particu- 

 larly abundant in the low districts of Holland, Germany, and France. 

 In our Islands it is more plentiful than is generally believed from its 

 very shy and retired habits. Dr. Von Siebold and M. Burger saw the 

 bird in Japan. 



'IS 



Water-Rail (fallus agvaticvt). 



" Except when closely watched," says Mr. Gould, " the Water-Rail 

 seldom takes to flight, hut evades pursuit by quietly yet quickly 

 traversing the bottoms of thick-set reed-beds and banks overgrown 

 witli luxuriant vegetation bordering the sides of pools and ditches, 

 where it finds a covert through which its slender and compressed form 

 enables it to pass with the greatest facility ; besides which it possesses 

 the power of swimming and diving, both of which materially aid its 

 escape. Without denying the possibility of this bird being migratory, 

 we have the strongest reason to believe that numbers remain with us 

 during the whole of the year, frquenting during the summer season 

 fen-land, morasses, ponds, and ditches, about which it incubates; 

 resorting on the approach of winter to the sides of our large streams 

 and rivers. Its nest is composed of rushes and vegetable fibres closely 

 concealed among herbage, at a little elevation from the water; its 

 nidification in fact closely resembles that of the Moor-Hen. Its eggs 

 are of a yellowish-white colour, marked with spots of red-brown. Its 

 food consists of worms, snails, soft insects, and their larvae, which 

 abound in swampy places; vegetable substances also form a part. 

 The young, when first excluded from the egg, are covered with black 

 down, and are observed to be in perfect possession of the powers of 

 swimming, and providing for their own safety and subsistence, remain- 

 ing however under the parent's care and protection." 



The Water-Rail is a delicious bird for the table. The writer of 

 the old quatrain in the 'Portraits d'Oyseaux,' thus alludes to its 

 celerity in running : 



" Le Raale noir par lea ruisacaux habile, 

 Et eat cogneu en diverse contree. 

 D'un bon coureur la viatesse cat monstree, 

 Quand on le dit, comme un Raale, allcr viatc." 



Crex. Bill shorter than the head, thick at the base, subcultrated, 

 compressed ; the culmen gradually deflecting from the forehead to the 

 point of the bill ; lateral furrow of the upper mandible broad, and 

 occupying more than half its length ; angle of the under mandible 

 bending upwards ; both mandibles of an equal length. Nostrils con- 

 cave, lateral, linear-ovoid, pierced in a membrane occupying the mandi- 

 bular furrow in the middle of the bill. Wings armed with a spine, 

 and having the second and third quill-feathers the longest. Plumage 

 soft, thick, and open in texture. Legs strong, of mean length, with 

 the lower part of the tibia; naked. Feet 4-toed, three before and one. 

 .behind. Toes long, slender, and cleft to their base, without any 

 lateral membrane ; hind toe resting on the ground. Claws arcuate, 

 compressed, and pointed. (Selby.) 



C. prate/iris, Bechst., Ralliu Crex, Linn., is the Rale de Genet, or 

 Roi des Cailles of the French ; Re di Quaglie of the Italians ; Wiessen- 

 Knarrer aud Wachtel-Kiiuig of the Germans; Kwartel Koning of the 

 Netherlander ; Vagtel-Konge, Aker-Rixe, and Skov-Snarre, of the 

 Danes and Norwegians ; Land-Kail, Corn-Crake, Daker-Hen, Bean- 

 Crake, aud Corn-Drake of the English ; and Rhegen ;r yd of 



the Welsh. Belon gives the following synonyms : ' 

 SAATJ, Ralla, Re de Quaglie, Ralle Rouge, or Ralle de Genet. It 

 has a large ash-coloured eyebrow, prolonged upon the sides of 

 the head ; all the feathers of the upper parts blackish-brown in 

 the middle, bordered laterally with ash-colour, and terminated with 

 reddish ; the long feathers which extend on the quills entirely bor- 

 dered by a large band of olive-reddish ; coverts of the wings of a rusty- 

 red ; quills reddish externally ; throat, belly, and abdomen white ; 

 breast olive-ash ; sides reddish, striped with white ; upper mandible 

 brown, lower whitish ; iris reddish-brown ; eyebrows flesh-colour ; 

 feet flesh-colour, or reddish-brown. 



The young have the tints less vivid, but brighter, with some white 

 spots. 



Land-Rail (Orex pratensit), 



" The Land-Rail," says Mr. Gould, " appears to be extensively 

 spread over the whole continent of Europe ; it is very abundant in 

 Holland, and not uncommon in France and Germany. It is a migra- 

 tory species, arriving with us about the latter end of April or the 

 beginning of May, when it scatters itself in pairs over the whole of 

 the British Isles." 



Worms, snails, insects and their larvae, seeds, and grain form the 

 food of the Land-Rail. It is very fond of grasshoppers. " Its habits," 

 says Mr. Gould, " are extremely shy and retiring, selecting for its 

 places of abode grassy meadows, fields of young corn, ozier-beds, and 

 marshy grounds, seldom allowing itself to be seen ; and were it not 

 for the peculiar note of the male, which consists of a singular grating 

 monotone sometimes sounding as if beneath one's feet, and again 

 appearing as if uttered at a distance its presence would not be be- 

 trayed. In these its favourite places of resort and concealment it 

 carries on the process of incubation, constructing its nest ou the 

 ground, aud occasionally on small hillocks, the nest being composed 

 of slender flags or grasses ; the female laying from eight to twelve 

 eggs, rather less than those of the moor-hen, to which, in the mark- 

 ings, they bear some resemblance, of a yellowish-white, covered with 

 dull rust-coloured spots. The young when hatched are covered with 

 a blackish down, and are soon able to foUow the parent birds, attaining 

 by the commencement of the shooting-season nearly the adult size 

 and plumage." Its southward migration commences in October, when 

 it pasbos over to the Continent. 



After it is once flushed it is almost impracticable to force the Land- 

 Rail to take wing a second time, uutil it has run through every part 

 of the cover that holds it. It is easily shot when on wing, though its 

 flight is generally very short, for it flies heavily, and with the legs 

 hanging down. It will run before a dog with the greatest rapidity, 

 and very frequently escapes by trusting to its legs alone. 



When dressed on the same day on which it is killed, with the trail 

 in, it is very delicious, and it has always been highly esteemed for 

 the table. 



In the old quatrain under the cut of the Land-Rail we read 



" Au Ralle noir est reasemblant ce Ralle, 



Sinon dc bee, de grandeur et colcur. 

 ' A la Perdrix il nc cede en valeur, 

 Mcsmc leur chair cat en bontc cgale." 



In the ' Northumberland Household -Book," Reys are among the 

 birds admitted to his lordship's table, and are charged nt twopenoe 

 each, the same price as that of a quail, and double that of a teal. 

 Drayton too, in his ' Polyolbion' (twenty-fifth song), notices 



" The Raylc, which seldom cornea but upon rich meu'a spita." 



ISAM. [OVKJE.] 



RAMBEH, the Malay name of a fruit described by Mr. Jack as 

 being common in the peninsula of Malacca, but unknown at Ben- 



