258 



and edge of the upper mandible, -where it is red ; legs fleshy brown ; iris red. Total length about 

 10 inches, culmen 1-62, wing 4-6, tail 2 - 12, tarsus T72. 



Adult Female (Copenhagen) . Does not differ from the male in plumage, except that the colours are perhaps 

 a little duller. 



Young (Butrinto, Albania). Resembles the adult, but has the upper parts more olivaceous, the throat and 

 breast duller, the feathers sullied with buff; there is more creamy brown on the lower abdomen; and the 

 chin and upper throat are white, the latter tinged with slate-grey. 



Nestling. Covered with black down. 



Obs. Judging from the series of specimens I have examined, there appears to be no difference between the 

 summer and winter dress, except that in the late summer the plumage is rather worn and pale. I find 

 a considerable variation in the size of the bill, some of the specimens I have examined having the bill 

 only 1"4 inch in length, whereas others have it as long as 1*8. As a rule, it appears that the female 

 has a shorter bill than the male ; but this does not seem to be always the case. The young bird has the 

 iris brown ; and it gradually assumes a rich orange-red colour as the bird approaches maturity. 



The Water-Rail has a somewhat wider distribution to the eastward than the Land-Rail, being 

 found far into India ; but in Africa it appears to range only into the northern portions of the 

 continent, being replaced in South Africa by Rallus ccerulescens ; and, though generally distri- 

 buted throughout Europe, it does not range so far north as Crex jpratensis. 



In Great Britain it is found at all seasons of the year, and is very generally distributed 

 throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. Mr. A. G. More states that it breeds through- 

 out the mainland ; and it is found also in almost all suitable localities during the winter. In 

 Norfolk, Mr. Stevenson says (B. of Norf, ii. p. 404), it is " both a resident and migrant, those 

 which remain with us throughout the winter receiving considerable accessions to their numbers 

 in March and April ; and though a large portion of those which have bred in our marshes pass 

 southward again at the close of the breeding-season, migratory flights from the north are met with 

 at intervals in autumn and winter. In support of this view of the habits of a bird not easy of 

 observation at any season, I may state that between the middle of March and the first or second 

 week in April, it is customary to find several couples of Rails in the Norwich market, hanging 

 for sale with the Snipes that simultaneously make their appearance in our marshes. From that 

 time until the close of the breeding-season they are pretty generally dispersed over the country 

 wherever moist localities afford sufficient harbour ; and though, of course, more abundant on the 

 broads themselves, are known either by their cries or the chance discovery of their eggs and 

 young, to frequent the margins of our inland meres, wet commons, and even rough sedgy water- 

 courses." Hancock (B. of North, and Durh. p. 124) says that in Northumberland and Durham 

 it is "not uncommon, though rarely seen, on account of its retiring habits. It is a resident, but 

 to a considerable extent is migratory, and is most numerous during autumn and winter. Its nest 

 has occurred in the district, and was taken by Mr. C. M. Adamson, on the 12th of July 1867, at 

 Grindon Lough; it was built amidst reeds, about knee-deep in water, and contained seven eggs." 

 Mr. Robert Gray writes (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 334) of the present species, "is commonly distri- 

 buted over the whole of Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland 



