552 BRITISH BIRDS. 



RALLUS AQUATICUS. 

 WATER-RAIL. 



(PLATE 23.) 



Rallus aquaticus, Briss. Orn. v. p. 151, pi. xii. fig. 2 (1760) ; Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 262 

 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum Latham, Temminck, Naumann, Dresser, 

 Sounders, &c. 



Scolopax obscura, Omel. Reise Russl. iii. p. 90, pi. xvii. (1774). 



Rallus sericeus, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. fyc. Brit. Mus. p. 33 (1816). 



Rallus germanicus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 690 (1831). 



Aramus aquations (Briss.), Gray, Hand-l. B. iii. p. 59 (1871). 



The Water-Rail is found on all the marshes that are big enough to afford 

 it sufficient shelter throughout the British Islands, including the Orkneys, 

 Shetlands, and Outer Hebrides, but is nowhere very abundant, though its 

 skulking habits make it appear rarer than it really is. It is a partial 

 migrant, in some districts being most common in summer, in others in 

 winter. 



The geographical distribution of the Water-Rail is a somewhat peculiar 

 one. It is said to be a resident in Iceland, and is probably so in the 

 Faroes. To Scandinavia it is a summer visitor as far north as lat. 63, and 

 is occasionally found during winter in the extreme south of Sweden. In 

 West Russia it breeds as far north as Riga, and is said to occur acciden- 

 tally near St. Petersburg. In East Russia its range is said to be about 

 the same. It has not occurred in West Siberia, but breeds in Russian 

 and Chinese Turkestan, at least as far east as Yarkand, and passes Gilgit 

 on migration to winter in North-west India. In Central and Southern 

 Europe it is a resident, but is more abundant in summer in the north and 

 west, -and is principally known as a winter visitor in the south and east. 

 The same remarks apply to North Africa ; in Algeria, for example, it is a 

 resident whose numbers are largely increased during winter, whilst in 

 Egypt, as in Greece, Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, and Afghanistan, it is 

 known as a winter visitor, occasionally remaining to breed. 



In Eastern Siberia, in the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal, and in the 

 valley of the Amoor, in both islands of Japan and in North China, a Water- 

 Rail breeds, so nearly allied to the western species that many writers 

 regard it as the same, though others distinguish it as Rallus indicus*. It 



The synonymy of the Eastern form is as follows : 



Rallus indicus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xvii. p. 820 (1849). 



Rallus japonicus, Schlegel,f,de Goebel, Thes. Orn, iii. p. 406 (1877). 



