water rail

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of rails of the genus Rallus, as the common European species (Rallus aquaticus). See Illust. of rail.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun a small wetland bird (Rallus aquaticus) of the family Rallidae that breeds in marshes and reedbeds across Europe and Asia.