368 RAIL. 



Velvet Runner, Will. Engl. 313. 



Water Rail, Gen. Syn.v. 227. 1. Br. Zool. ii. No. 214. pi. 75. Id.fol. 130. pi. E. E. 



Id. 1812. ii. 114. pi. 20. f. 1. Sloan. Jam. 321. 16. Albin, i. pi. 77. Will. Engl. 



314. t. 56. Bewick, ii. pi. p. 13. Lewin, v. pi. 189. Id. xsxv. 2 — the eg-g. 



Wale. ii. pi. 171. Puft. Dor*, p. 15. Don. pi. 104. Wern. Tr. iii. 174. Orn. 



Diet, fy Sup. Graves, Orn. 



LENGTH twelve inches, breadth sixteen ; weight four ounces 

 and a half. Bill one inch and three quarters, dusky, with a reddish 

 base; irides red ; plumage above olive brown, the middle of each 

 feather black ; beneath, to the middle of the belly, ash-colour ; 

 lower belly, thighs, and vent, the same, with rufous edges ; sides of 

 the body barred transversely black and white; bastard wing furnished 

 with a short spine ;* quills dusky ; under the tail white; tail short, 

 the feathers twelve in number, and the length two inches, black, 

 tips of the two middle feathers ferruginous ; the others the same on 

 the margins; legs dusky red; toes long, divided to the bottom. 

 Both sexes much the same, but the bill in the male is longer, and 

 more red. Young birds have the feathers of the fore part of the 

 neck margined with white, and some of those have the bend of the 

 wing barred black and white ; but whether owing to Variety, or 

 peculiar to young birds, is not certain. 



This species is sufficiently common in England, but more plen- 

 tiful in many parts in the winter season. Its chief haunts are the 

 edges of ponds and rivulets, well furnished with cover; under which 

 it may shelter itself in cases of danger, and as it runs fast, it will 

 more often trust to its legs for escape than to the wings, for it flies 

 with difficulty, and with the legs handing down ; it will also fre- 

 quently take to the water, where it swims tolerably well ; and often 

 will run on the surface, if there be any weeds to bear it up. 



Is called by some the Bilcock, and Brook Ouzel. It makes the 

 nest of sedge and coarse grass, among the thickest aquatic plants ; 



* The Troglodyte, Cape, and Black Species, are furnished with the same. 



