A SYLVAN RETREAT 



The Wooded Island of Jackson Park, 

 Chicago's Premier Birding Area 



by Jerry Sullivan 



The black rail hung out in the bushes at the south 

 end of Wooded Island. He stayed for a whole 

 week while birders from all over the Midwest 

 rushed to see him. Sometimes he was hidden in 

 the shrubbery, but often he was as visible as a robin on 

 your lawn. 



Understand that the black rail is probably the most 



elusive bird in North America, a will-o'-the-wisp rarely 



glimpsed by even the most dedicated birders. The whole 



tribe of rails tends toward the shy and reclusive. They are 



12 birds of marsh and wet meadow who lurk in the cattails 



and sedges. They fly only under extreme duress, prefer- 

 ring to escape observation by slipping off through the 

 weeds. The ornithologists call them laterally com- 

 pressed; common folk call them skinny as rails, and their 

 svelte forms allow them to steal away without rustling 

 a stem. 



Jerry Sullivan edited Chicago Area Birds, published recently by Chi- 

 cago Review Press; writes a column, "Field and Street," for the Chi- 

 cago Reader; and has written extensively on birds of the Chicago area. 



