[RAIL sb.3] A bird, Rallus aquaticus, having a general resemblance to the Landrail: native in the temperate portion of the eastern hemisphere.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s Improv., xii. 109. Water-rails are preferred in Italy before Thrushes or Quails.
1768. Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 385. The water rail is a bird of a long slender body, with short concave wings.
1829. London’s Mag. Nat. Hist., I. 289. The water rail has grey wings, spotted with brown; flanks spotted with white; bill, orange underneath.
1883. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4), 111. One Case with small Pike and Water Rail.
