Family RALLID^. Genus Rallus. 



Subfamily Rallinm. 



WATER RAIL. 



RALLUS AQUATICUS— Z««««2«. 



Geographical Distribution. — British: Partial migrant; 

 but may be found at all seasons widely distributed in all suitable 

 localities throughout the British Islands, extending even to the 

 Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands. Perhaps most 

 abundant in the Norfolk Broads. In some districts it is most 

 abundant in summer, in others during winter. Foreign -. West 

 Palaearctic region. Resident in Iceland, and occurs on autumn 

 passage on the Faroes ; whilst a single example has been 

 obtained on the island of Jan Mayen (lat. 71°), the most 

 northern limit of its recorded range. Summer migrant to Scandi- 

 navia up to lat. 63° ; said to be resident near Bergen in Norway, 

 and to be occasionally observed during winter in the extreme 

 south-west of Sweden. Breeds in West Russia up to Riga, and 

 accidentally strays to St. Petersburg ; in East Russia its limits 

 are about the same. Although apparently absent from West 

 Siberia, it breeds in Russian and Chinese Turkestan as far east as 

 Yarkand. It passes Cashmere on migration, and winters in 

 North-west India. Returning westwards, it is chiefly known in 

 Afghanistan, Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine, Greece, and Egypt 

 south to Abyssinia as a winter visitor, but a few remain to 

 breed in many localities. Resident in Central and Southern 

 Europe, and also in Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco, but 

 most abundant during winter in the south and east, and in 

 summer in the north and west. 



Allied Forms. — Rallus indims, an inhabitant, in summer, 

 of the Lake Baikal district in South-east Siberia, the valley of the 

 Amoor, Japan, and Northern China; and of Southern China, 



