172 GRALLATORES. RALLUS. Ralu. 
COMMON RAIL. 
Razwvus aquaricus, Linn. 
PLATE XXIX, 
Rallus aquaticus, Linn. Syst. 1. 262. sp. 2.—Geml. Syst. 1. 712.—Raii, 
Syn. 113. A. 2.—Jbid. 190. 12.— Will. 234. t. 16.—Lath. Ind. Om. 2. 
755. 1. but not the var. B.—Steph. Shaw’s Zool. 12. 192. pl. 25-—Flem. 
Br. Anim. 1. 98. sp. 128. 
Gallina serica Gesneri, Rati Syn. 114. 4. 
La Rale d@’Eau, Buff: Ois. 3. 154. t. 13.—Temm. Man. d’Ornith. 2. 683. 
La Rale d’Eau d’Europe, Cuv. Reg. Anim. 1. 500. 
Wasser Ralle, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. 464.—Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 2. 
2. 406. 
Velvet Runner, Will. (Angl.) 315. 
Water Rail, Bilcock, or Brook Ouzel,—Will. (Angl.) 314.—Penn. Br. 
Zool. 2. 484. No. 214. t. 75.—Albin’s Br. Birds, 1. pl. 77.—Lath. Syn. 5. 
227. 1.—Lewin’s Br. Birds, 5. t. 189.—Pult. Cat. Dorset. p. 15.—Mont. 
Orn. Dict. 1. and Sup.— Bewick’s Br. Birds, 2. t. p.13.—Shaw’s Zool. 12. 
192. pl. 25.—Flem. Br. Anim. |. 98. sp. 128. 
Bilcock, Rennie’s Mont. Ornith. Dict. p. 33. 
Provincrat—Runner, Skiddy-cock, Oar-cock, Grey-skit, Brook-runner. 
Tue shy and solitary habits of this bird, as well as the 
peculiar localities it inhabits, and the difficulty with which it 
is forced on wing, prevent it being so frequently seen as, 
from its general dispersion throughout the kingdom, might 
otherwise be expected. It is permanently resident in this 
country, and to be found at all seasons of the year. Mon- 
tacu, however, (in the Supplement to his Ornithological 
Dictionary,) suggests that a part of those annually produced 
may probably migrate, and, in favour of this opinion, instances 
the great accumulation of Rails in the marshes of Devonshire 
in the autumn, being the period when, in this case, they 
would naturally leave England for a warmer climate. This 
supposition I have not been able to verify, and further ob- 
servations are therefore necessary to convert it into a fact. 
In the northern continental parts of Europe, this is a regu- 
larly migrative species, but in those countries the winter 
being always much more severe than it is in England, the 
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