WATER-BIRD WAIFS 



perhaps, because they are narrow across, "thin as a 

 rail," so that they can the more easily sUp through the 

 dense tangles in which they live. One may suppose 

 that the fat ones got stuck, but the thin survived, and 

 gave rise to a thin race! 



With us there are two common kinds of rails — the 

 Virginia Rail and the Sora, the latter being the best 

 known, especially to sportsmen, for rails are hunted 

 with dogs, and their flesh is good eating, as those things 

 go. But in these days of decreasing bird-life, the true 

 bird-lover is more inclined to look to the butcher for 

 meat and to the wild birds for pleasure of eye and ear 

 rather than of palate. To esteem a bird in accordance 

 with its edibility is getting to seem a little uncouth and 

 old-fashioned. A while ago I was showing to a gen- 

 tleman of foreign extraction some of my best bird 

 pictures, enlarged and hand-colored, which I really 

 thought were pretty nice. As I showed him each 

 picture, his one and repeated question was, "Is it good 

 to eat?" If I said "yes," he looked rather pleased; 

 if I said "no," he gave a sort of impatient grunt of 

 disgust — no good! I soon began to have "tired feel- 

 ings," and was not sorry to depart. 



These rails are rather small birds, about the size of 

 the Bobolink, short of tail but long of toe, and well 

 developed in the legs. The Sora is dark colored, with 

 short bill, while the Virginia Rail, though but a trifle 

 larger, can be told by its reddish-brown color and 

 longer bill. Neither of them likes to fly, and they only 



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