LAND-RAIL. 
“ Having been once flushed, it is diflicult to put them up a second time : for, 
besides runnhig with great swiftness, they have a curious method of evading 
the dogs by leaping with closed wings and compressed feathers over the long 
grass some three or four yards, and then, running a short distance, they leap 
again. The scent being thus broken, they generally evade the most keen- 
scented dogs ; and so quickly are these strange leaps made, that it is only by 
mere chance that the birds are seen.”* 
Mr. Tom Iredale tells me : “In the North of England I watched this bird 
with glasses, endeavouring to find out the reason of its ventriloquial prowess. 
I saw that it fed after the manner of a common fowl, moving and picking in an 
erratic manner. At intervals it lifted up its head and uttered its cry, and 
according to the direction of its head so was the sound heard. Although its cry 
appeared to come from various quarters, the bird did not alter its position to any 
extent. When a boy I have made it take wing by continuous chase, but only 
after a very tiresome pursuit. It has no predilection for swampy places, and its 
nest was most commonly brought to light by the reaping-machine in the hayfield. 
It will be seen that my explanation of the apparent ventriloquial powers of 
this bird differs entirely from that proposed by Saunders.” 
The bird figured and described is an adult male in autumn plumage. 
\\ 
* Gumey, Ibis, p, 331 (1863). 
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