586 THE RAILS 



The food supplied to the newly hatched young is difficult to 

 determine, because apparently partly regurgitated. The little ones 

 are early encouraged by their parents to forage for themselves, and 

 although for some weeks the imperative baby cries may be heard, 

 they are nevertheless daily instructed in the art of searching for, and 

 skilfully catching, their living prey, and also in the less exciting 

 business of selecting their vegetable diet. 



The water-rail is decidedly exclusive and unsociable ; there is 

 none of that garrulous squabbling which makes night a joy to 

 coots and moorhens when in close proximity ; nor is their bedtime 

 ushered in, as is that of young grebes, with an evensong like the 

 far-off jangling of little silver bells. Silent and furtive for the 

 most part, the inner life of a family of water-rails is almost a sealed 

 book. Perhaps this is why the sudden " sharming," hideous though 

 it is, has nevertheless a charm for the bird-lover, because it betrays 

 the presence of a singularly interesting species which would other- 

 wise slip unobserved through the dense vegetation ; and about whose 

 domestic affairs he would fain know much more than is revealed 

 on the surface. Water-rails are not found in the vicinity of their 

 nesting-grounds during the winter months, but resort to the dykes 

 on the inside marshes, where reeds and rushes grow, and which 

 are not so likely to be seriously affected by frosts. It would seem 

 as if resident water-rails must be hard put to it during severe 

 winters, and that, barring the perils of the migration journey, they 

 would be much better off if they departed south with their more 

 adventurous brethren. 



This account may end with the following interesting story, which 

 shows that the somewhat frail water-rail can defend itself when 

 attacked : " St. John (Natural History and Sport in Moray] states that 

 a water-rail flushed by him from a ditch when snow was on the 

 ground, alighted again in an adjoining field, and immediately 

 endeavoured to make its way back to the water from whence it had 

 flown. A large gull, perceiving the bird struggling through the snow, 



