and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but
this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding
range. It breeds in reed beds and other marshy sites with tall, dense
vegetation, building its nest a little above the water level from
whatever plants are available nearby. The adult is 23–28 cm
(9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened
laterally to allow it easier passage through reed beds. It has mainly
brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks,
long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. The off-white, blotched
eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and the precocial downy chicks
hatch in 19–22 days. Water Rails are omnivorous, although they feed
mainly on animals. They are territorial even after breeding, and will
aggressively defend feeding areas in winter. These rails are vulnerable
to flooding or freezing conditions, loss of habitat and predation by
mammals (such as the American mink) and large birds, but overall the
species' huge range and large numbers mean that it is not considered to
be threatened.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Rail>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1202:
The first major action of the Fourth Crusade and the first
attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders, the Siege of Zara,
began in Zadar, Croatia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Zara>
1766:
William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey, signed
the charter establishing Queen's College, now known as Rutgers
University.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutgers_University>
1871:
Journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley located missing
missionary and explorer David Livingstone (both pictured, left and right
respectively) in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone>
1969:
The first episode of the children's television series Sesame
Street premiered on public broadcasting television stations in the
United States, to adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street>
2007:
At the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, King Juan
Carlos I of Spain asked President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez "Why don't
you shut up?" after Chávez repeatedly interrupted a speech by Spanish
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%BFPor_qu%C3%A9_no_te_callas%3F>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xoanon:
(historical) A wooden statue, used as a cult image in Ancient Greece.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xoanon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Dare to be wise! Energy and spirit is needed to overcome the
obstacles which indolence of nature as well as cowardice of heart oppose
to our instruction. It is not without significance that the old myth
makes the goddess of Wisdom emerge fully armed from the head of Jupiter;
for her very first function is warlike. Even in her birth she has to
maintain a hard struggle with the senses, which do not want to be
dragged from their sweet repose. The greater part of humanity is too
much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself
for a new and sterner struggle with error. Content if they themselves
escape the hard labor of thought, men gladly resign to others the
guardianship of their ideas, and if it happens that higher needs are
stirred in them, they embrace with a eager faith the formulas which
State and priesthood hold in readiness for such an occasion.
--Friedrich Schiller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller>
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