140 
NATURAL niftTORY 
OUZEL, or WATER-CRAKE. 
The Ouzel is nearly as large as the com* 
mon blackbird : he is an English bird, and 
is found in most counties of the island. He 
feeds upon fish, yet does not refuse insects 
when hunger presses. The head and upper 
side of the neck are of a kind of umber colour, 
and sometimes black with a shade of red; 
the back and wings are of a mixture of black 
and ash colour; the throat and breast per- 
fectly white. The most peculiar trait m 
this bird’s character is, that, he can walk on 
the bottom of a shallow stream, in quest of 
small fish, as easily as he does on land, 
without being staggered by the rapidity of 
the current. 
