WATEE-KAIL 177 



white ; outer web of the first primary, white, a distinguish- 

 able feature (cf. Little Crake). 



Adult female nuptial. Breast and abdomen, light grey; 

 chin, nearly white ; wings, more thickly spotted with white 

 than in the male ; ground-colour of the neck, light brown 

 marked with darker streaks. The white on the web of the 

 first primary is less distinct than in the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. Eesembles the respec- 

 tive nuptial plumages, but the shade of the throat is much 

 lighter, almost white. 



Immature, male and female. Breast and abdomen, barred 

 with different shades of brown ; the remainder of the plu- 

 mage resembling that of the female. 



Nestling. Glossy-black. 



BEAK. Green, except the base which is red. 



FEET. Dull olive. 



IRIDES. Eed. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH ... 7 in. 



WING 3-45 ,, 



BEAK 0'5 ,, 



TARSO-METATAKSUS 1 ,, 



EGG 1 x -8 in. 



Note. As indicated by Mr. Harting, the Little Crake 

 resembles a miniature Corn-Crake, whereas Baillon's Crake 

 resembles a miniature Spotted Crake (cf. Little Stint with 

 Dunlin, and Temminck's Stint with Common Sandpiper). 



Allied Species and Representative Forms. P. pusilla, 

 with a distinguishable brown stripe through the eye and 

 ear-coverts, is the Eastern representative (Saunders). 



WATER-RAIL. Eallus aquations (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 86 ; Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' vol. vii, pi. 495 ; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. iv, pi. 60. 



The Water-Kail, tolerably common and widely dis- 

 tributed over the marshy lands of the British Isles, may be 

 12 



