Definition of "wood-hen" [wood-hen]

• A ralline bird of the genus Ocydromus, of which there are several species, of New Zealand, New Caledonia, and other Pacific islands, as O. australis, the weak rail. See Ocydromus. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "The night was warm and quiet, the silence only interrupted by the occasional sharp cry of a wood-hen, and the rushing of the river, whilst the ruddy glow of the fire, the sombre forest, and the immediate foreground of our saddles and blankets, formed a picture to me entirely new and rather impressive."
• "The silence and freshness of the night, the occasional sharp cry of the wood-hen, the ruddy glow of the fire, the subdued rushing of the river, the sombre forest, and the immediate foreground of our saddles packs and blankets, made a picture worthy of a Salvator Rosa or a Nicolas"
• "The silence and freshness of the night, the occasional sharp cry of the wood-hen, the ruddy glow of the fire, the subdued rushing of the river, the sombre forest, and the immediate foreground of our saddles, packs, and blankets, made a picture worthy of a Salvator Rosa or a Nicolas Poussin."