heavily; and, when compelled to take wing, merely passes over the tops
of the reeds to some place of security a short distance off. (Gould.)
The body is "in all these Rails _compressed_" (Yarrell,--he means
laterally thin), which enables them to make their way through dense
herbage with facility. I can't find anything clear about its country,
except that it 'occasionally visits' Sweden in summer, and Smyrna in
winter, and that it has been found in Corfu, Sicily, Crete,--Whittlesea
Mere,--and Yarley Fen;--in marshes always, wherever it is; (nothing
said of its behavior on ice,) and not generally found farther north
than Cumberland. Its food is rather nasty--water-slugs and the
like,--but it is itself as fat as an ortolan, "almost melts in the
_hand_." (Gould.) Its own color, brown spotted with white; "the spots
on the wing coverts surrounded with black, which gives them a studded
or pearly appearance." (Bewick,--he means by 'pearly,' rounded or
projecting.) Hence my specific epithet. Its young are of the liveliest
black, "little balls of black glistening down," beautifully put by Mr.
Gould among the white water Crowfoot (Ranunculus Aquatilis), looking
like little ducklings in mourning. "Its nest is made of rushes and
other buoyant materials matted together, so as to float on, and rise or
fall with, the ebbing or flowing of the water like a boat; and to
prevent its being carried away, it is moored or fastened to a reed."
(Bewick.)

II.B.

ALLEGRETTA NYMPHAEA, STELLARIS. STARRY ALLEGRET.

97. Called 'Stellaris' by Temminck.--I do not find why, but it is by
much the brightest in color of the three, and may be thought of as the
star of them. Gould says it is the least, also, and calls it the
'Pigmy'; but we can't keep that name without confusing it with the
'Minuta.' 'Baillon's Crake' seems the most commonly accepted title,--as
the worst possible. Both this, and the more quietly toned Tiny, in Mr.
Gould's delightful plates of them, have softly brown backs, exquisitely
ermined by black markings at the root of each feather, following into
series of small waves, like little breakers on sand. They have lovely
gray chemisettes, striped gray bodices, and green bills and feet; a
little orange stain at the root of the green bill, and the bright red
iris of the eye have wonderful effect in warming the color of the whole
bird: and with beautiful fancy Mr. Gould has put the Stellaris among
yellow water-lilies to set off its gra