 This rail is a skulking species , its streaked plumage making it difficult to see in its wetland habitat . Its laterally compressed body allows it to slip though the densest vegetation , and it will " freeze " if surprised in the open . It walks with a high @-@ stepping gait , although it adopts a crouch when it runs for cover . It swims , when necessary , with the jerky motion typical of rails , and it flies short distances low over the reeds with its long legs dangling . Although their flight looks weak , water rails are capable of long sustained flights during their nocturnal migrations , and are sometimes killed in collisions with lighthouses or wires . British @-@ ringed birds have been recovered from as far away as Poland , Czechoslovakia and Sweden . 
