182 OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS. 



and came under my observation, were in their sum- 

 mer or breeding plumage, as described by authors. 

 The black, however, on the under parts was very 

 variable in different specimens ; some being only 

 faintly spotted with this colour, others having the 

 whole of the belly and abdomen thickly blotched 

 over with large irregular patches of the same ; but 

 in no case without some mixture of white. Query, 

 whether the season of incubation was not just over 

 with these individuals, which had the two colours 

 thus mixed, rather than not yet commenced ? 



WATER-RAIL.* 



WATER-RAILS are common, as might be expected, 

 in our fens and low grounds, and certainly are not 

 migratory with us ; at least they do not all migrate, 

 as I have known them killed at all seasons of the 

 year. Even the severest weather does not oblige 

 them to quit the neighbourhood, as I have a note of 

 one being shot at Bottisham on the 26th of January, 

 1627, during a very sharp frost, accompanied by 

 deep snow, which had prevailed for more than a 

 week previous. The evening before this bird was 

 killed, the thermometer had descended to 12 Fahr., 

 which is a degree of cold seldom exceeded in these 

 parts. 



I never found the nest of this bird myself, which, 

 indeed, few naturalists have seen ; but a man once 

 brought me the eggs, which he had found in Bur- 



* Rallus aquaticus, Linn. 



