The GOLDEN RAIL, or PAINTED CAPE SNIPE (_Rhynchæa Capensis_), is of a blackish grey on the upper part of the body; the eyebrows, a stripe on the head, and another on the shoulder, are yellowish; the upper wing is brown, marked with black; the lower throat and upper breast are deep blackish grey and white; the rest of the under side is white; the quills and tail-feathers are adorned with golden eyes and black spots. In the female the upper parts of the body are dark brown, irregularly striped with greenish black. The brown head has a green gloss, the eyebrows are yellowish white, a line over the head is yellowish, the neck reddish brown, and the upper breast blackish brown; the under side and a line on the shoulder are white, the quills and tail-feathers green and black, enlivened by golden eyes, and the feathers of the wing-covers green, striped with black; the eye is brown, the beak dark green at the base, and tipped with brownish red; the foot is light green. The male is nine inches long and sixteen and a quarter broad; the wing measures five inches and one-sixth, and the tail two inches; while the female is ten inches long and eighteen broad. The Painted Snipes are dispersed over a large portion of Africa. They keep together in small parties, and lead a quiet and retired life, beneath the sheltering leaves of aquatic plants that overspread the morasses and river-banks, which are their favourite haunts. We are almost entirely without particulars respecting these birds, except that they run well and swiftly, and flutter rather than fly, when compelled to rise into the air. Near the Cape they are known by the name of "Keuvitts," as that word is supposed to resemble their cry, which is constantly heard during evening. We obtained two eggs from the ovary of one of these Snipes, shot in the month of May; in form and colour these resembled the eggs of the Gallinago. THE WATER RAIL.