220 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE WATER RAIL. 



a short space above the tarsal joint : anterior toes 

 long, slender, cleft to the base ; hallux short, articu- 

 culated nearly on the plane of the others. Types : 

 C. pratemis, porrana, gularis, &c. Cosmopolite. 

 Habits, skulking ; chiefly aquatic ; breed on the 

 ground; lay numerous eggs; noisy, and often noc- 

 turnal. 



THE WATER RAIL. 



The Water Rail of British authors. This is a 

 bird of skulking habits, that inhabits or frequents flat 

 and oozy levels, fens, and marshes. It is of the 

 family Hallid^e, the most aquatic of the Grallatores. 

 It is abundant neither in our own countiy, nor in 

 Scotland : perhaps, however, it will be more correct 

 to say, that the shy and wary habits of the bird 

 render its haunts little pervious to the perseverance 



