1 94 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



.to his fens again!" The LITTLE BITTERN 

 (Ardetta mimita\ although perhaps never so 

 common as the preceding species, once appeared 

 to breed in the fens, and when we remember how 

 skulking a little creature it is, may even do so at 

 the present time. Its nest is made upon the 



f round, and the white eggs may easily be identi- 

 ed by any observer fortunate enough to fall in 

 with the prize. The upper plumage of the Little 

 Bittern is black with a greenish tinge in the male, 

 brown in the female ; the underparts are buff. 



As may naturally be inferred, this wilder- 

 ness of swamp, and marsh, and reeds is a 

 paradise for the Rails. Not counting the Land 

 Rail, three species of these birds have their 

 stronghold in the Broads. The commonest of 

 widely these is the WATER RAIL (Rallus aquations}. 



distributed. . , . . . . , . , . x . . 2 . ' 



Although this bird may be met with in many 

 other places in fact in all marshes and swamps 

 suited to its requirements there is no district 

 where it is so universally distributed as in the 

 Fens. In winter it becomes more local, for many 

 of its summer haunts do not afford sufficient 

 shelter at that season, when the rushes wither 

 and the flags die down. The Water Rail is a 

 skulking bird, and is rarely surprised far from the 

 cover of the reeds. When it does come out for 

 any great distance it is during the night, a period, 

 by the way, that is invariably selected for its 

 journeys across country too. Perhaps you may 

 hear it drop into the water from the bank with a 

 muffled splash. The Water Rail has seen and 

 been watching you intently, although you have 

 failed to observe it ; and as you have approached 

 its hiding-place it has popped into the friendly 



