 Occasionally , more unusual locations are used . One pair in Scotland nested in the open by the side of a road , and when an English nature reserve installed nest boxes for bearded tits ( reed " wigwams " with a wooden floor ) , rails nested both in the boxes and under the wooden floor , in the latter case sometimes with the tits in residence above . Although mainly a lowland species , the water rail breeds at 1 @,@ 240 m ( 4 @,@ 070 ft ) in the Alps and 2 @,@ 000 m ( 6 @,@ 600 ft ) in Armenia . An Italian study suggested that reed bed birds need a minimum area of wetland for breeding , which for the water rail is about 1 ha ( 2 @.@ 5 acres ) , although the highest densities are in marshes of 10 ha ( 25 acres ) or more . 
