WATER-RAIL. 
RALLUS AQUATICUS. 
Vt ater-Rails appear far less abundant tlirougliout Scotland tlian in the southern and eastern counties of 
England ; in the Highlands this species has come under my notice only in Strath Tay, in the vicinity 
of a few small reedy lochs near the Spey, and about Lairg and Altnaharra, in Sutherland. While residing 
in East Lothian I remarked that a pair or two regularly took up their quarters on the approach of winter 
about a small stream, known as the Eel Burn, foiling into the Forth a couple of miles to the west of North 
Berwick. Shortly after daybreak, one cold and bitter morning in the winter of 1864, when the sands 
immediately congealed with ice as the tide receded, I watched a pair pecking about on the shore round a small 
pool of open water at tlie mouth of the burn ; the poor birds had evidently been driven from their usual 
haunts by the severity of tlie weather, and appeared sadly cut up through want of food. 
Rails evince a decided partiality for low-lying marshy ground, though in the east of Sussex I often met 
with scattered pairs along the course of the small trout-streams meandering through the densely wooded 
portions of the county. The extensive reed-beds and trackless swamps that abound in the neighbourhood 
of the broads of the eastern counties are admirably adapted to the habits of this species ; on the slightest signs 
of danger they betake themselves to the thickest cover, and, unless driven out by a dog accustomed to their 
skulking habits, usually escape observation. Though but seldom seen, their strange cries may be heard at 
certain hours, almost continuously, in fine still weather during the summer months ; tlie peculiar squeaks and 
grunts, however, that are emitted would never be supposed, by any one unacquainted with their note to 
proceed from the throat of a bird. 
On the 27th of June, 1873, while passing through a shade near Hickling, I walked over a nest of this 
species in a bed of sedge where the bottom was exceedingly moist and sloppy ; the old birds, evidently close 
at hand, kept out of sight, expressing their disgust or alarm at our presence by a succession of noisy, thouo-h 
far from melodious, sounds. Noticing that several of the eight eggs were chipped and evidently just on the 
point of hatching, I returned on the following day, being anxious to obtain the downy young as specimens 
On reaching the nest but two eggs remained, with a few portions of broken shells lying scattered around; the 
old birds proved still more vociferous than on our former visit, and while examining a small patch of grass' and 
sedge in which they were concealed, one of the juveniles was detected squatting on a bare spot.*^ After a 
careful search, the whole six were secured within a radius of eight or ten yards. How these tiny mites had 
reached so great a distance was somewhat puzzling, unless conveyed by their parents, their limbs appearing 
scarcely strong enough to sustain their weight. The youngsters were covered thickly with a glossy black down 
possessing, when viewed in the bright sunlight, a metallic lustre, exhibiting much the same bottle-green tints 
as the plumage of the Blaek Guillemot or White-winged Tern when fresh-killed. The legs and feet were of a 
dull brown ; bills dirty white, tip black, with a small white speck near the point. Having previously obtained 
.specimens of adults, I did not molest them, and, in order to lessen their bereavement, returned one of the 
