HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 



By the REV MAURICE C. H. BIRD, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



THE RAILS, MOORHEN AND COOT 



ALTHOUGH the Land Rail in summer 

 ,/~V and the Water Rail in winter are 

 fairly common in suitable localities 

 in most English counties, both birds are 

 skulking and crepuscular in their habits ; 

 they are very 

 loath to rise. 

 seldom fly far 

 when disturbed, 

 and very diffi- 

 cult to flush a 

 second time. 

 They are there- 

 fore more fre- 

 quenth' hear d 

 than seen, ex 

 cept when hard 

 weather compels 

 the Water Rail 

 to leave t h 

 reedy recesses, 

 or sedg}' swamps 

 of the marsh 

 lands, to seek 

 li\-elihood b 

 haunting t h 

 roadside r u n - 

 ning ditches of 

 the upland. 



In sharp \\'inters they sometimes fre- 

 quent drains where farmyard liquid 

 manure is allowed to run to waste, and 

 probe the mud with their elongated, down- 

 curved, browTi-red beaks for small worms 

 and lesser forms of animal Hfe that rejoice 

 in such a habitat. 



The Water Rail is the smaller bird of 

 the two. and much darker : the under 

 parts are nearly black, but faintly barred 

 with white, and the upper are oli\-e- 

 brown, each feather ha\ing a black 

 centre streak. As to size. Water Rails 

 vary a great deal. On November 13. 1894. 

 I measured two, shot within a few vards 



weighed 



of one another, one of which 

 4 oz. and measured loi inches, with a 

 wing expanse of 14I inches ; the other 

 weighed 5| oz., was 12 inches long, and 

 its wings expanded to i6| inches. Both 



Ihotograpii by jf. .ickmson, Leeds. 



LAND RAH., OR CORNCRAKE'S NEST. 



were females. The Rails have no soUd, 

 decorative frontal shields such as are 

 conspicuous features in the head-gear 

 of adult Coot and ]\Ioorhen. but should 

 opportunity occur to handle a Water 

 Rail, note should be taken of the shiny 

 black, horny, central points (Indian- 

 club-shaped under the microscope) to 

 the feathers on the crown of the head 

 — a provision of Nature, shall we say, 

 to protect the skull when the bird is 

 ghcHng through rank, stiff, and rough 

 leafed, close-growing marsh vegetation. 

 For this pui-pose also its narrow body, 

 with the ribs much compressed, is emin- 



^39 



