THE RAIL FAMILY 147 



during part of the year. It can hardly be expected 

 that birds which migrate at night, as Rails and 

 Crakes do, should be seen by people who are in bed 

 and asleep. Times without number have I seen 

 birds on flight, both coming and going, but only 

 once in my life have I seen them pitch down and rest 

 from their travels. They were Swallows, in splendid 

 plumage, fresh from the reed-fringed lagoons and 

 sea-weed-tangled beaches of Africa. I shall never 

 forget that sight, for I could have touched the 

 gentle twittering creatures, as they sat perched in 

 one long line on some fencing. 



As all birds of the Rail family are inveterate 

 skulkers, any tuft of tangle or brush will do for 

 them to creep into when they first reach our shores, 

 — not a long flight is it either, if the place of pitch- 

 ing down be on the southern or eastern coast, — and 

 then when night comes they travel again. 



I have seen Moorhens up at such a great height 

 that they looked no larger than Starlings. They 

 were circling round and round at a rare pace above 

 a large sheet of fresh water. As I had my glasses on 

 them and saw them ultimately drop down in the 

 water, there could not be the least doubt as to 

 their identity. Whenever I hear a Moorhen go 

 clicketing overhead, exactly like a Barn Owl, I often 

 wonder how far she is going before morning comes. 



Lonely moor-pools are visited by Rails at night, 

 and if they choose to stay there, all well and good, 

 for there is plenty of the closest cover in such 

 places ; but as great fields of corn and roots are 



