144 niSTORY OF THE 



In the early settlement of Wisconsin, I had a good opportu- 

 nity to observe their habits on Pewaukee Lake (where they breed 

 in abundance), a famous resort for water fowls, and where my 

 .brother and I have spent many and many a pleasant day in our 

 loof canoe. The settlements and summer tourists have fright- 

 ened most of the birds away, but this species, also the Sora and 

 Virginia Rail, still breed there in considerable numbers. I have 

 also met with these birds in Mexico and Central America. 



They inhabit the grassy, reedy edges of shallow ponds and 

 fresh water streams. I have met with them in brackish water 

 bayous, but never on the salt water marshes, but they no doubt 

 do occasionally visit or stop there to rest; their natural haunts 

 are inland. They occasionally wander quite a distance from the 

 water, but, as a rule, are to be looked for swimming, or running 

 through the rushes, over the lily pads and other surface water 

 plants. They ride the water lightly, with tails erect and heads 

 gracefully bobbing at every stroke of the feet. They also dive 

 readily, and can rise from the water in a running, flapping man- 

 ner, and, like the Rail, fly with dangling legs, and drop into the 

 first cover; but they are much more easily flushed again. In 

 migration, or when obliged to fly any distance, their legs as well 

 as necks are stretched out to their fullest extent. Their gut- 

 tural sonorous "Kra, kra, kra, kra," is often uttered at morn 

 and eve, and during the day, when startled. 



The young leave the nest as soon as hatched, and run and 

 dive as readily as the parents; chasing insects here and there in 

 their watery haunts, for which they are so perfectly adapted; 

 hiding, quick as thought, at the least alarm; in fact, they seem to 

 have from the start a full knowledge of their surroundings, and 

 the many enemies they have to guard against, in as well as out 

 of the water. 



Their food consists of snails, insects, worms, seeds of water 

 plants, etc. 



Their nests are placed in rushes and reeds growing in shallow 

 water, or on swampy lands; built on the tops of old, broken- 

 down stalks, and are composed of the same material, weeds and 

 grasses — also the leaves of the cat-tail flag, when growing in the 



