The Sora {Porzana Carolina) 

 By W. Leon Dawson 



Synonyms : Carolina Rail ; Sora Rail ; Soree. 



Length : 83^ inches. 



Range: Temperate North America, chiefly northward, but less commonly 

 on the Pacific Coast. 



If a correspondent writes me of a "curious brown bird" which he ''shot 

 yesterday in a swamp," or "picked up this morning under the telegraph wires ;" 

 and if he accompanies the letter with a spool-box about a half an inch in 

 thickness (O. N. T. preferred) under convoy of two two-cent stamps, I confi- 

 dently expect to find a Sora Rail. Yes, there it is, lying on its side ; because that 

 is the way a Rail fits most easily into a shallow box. "As thin as a Rail" does 

 not refer to the Lincoln variety of split trees, but to this bird and his congeners. 

 The birds are bilaterally compressed in order to enable them to slip readily 

 between the close-set stalks of vegetation. And this they do with almost 

 incredible rapidity, and without leaving a wake of motion by which their course 

 may be traced. 



Like the King Rail, the Sora rises to a dog; or if caught feeding inshore 

 some little ways from his watery fastnesses, he flits over the tops of the reeds, 

 drops down suddenly, and loses himself immediately in the maze. It is idle to 

 follow him when alarmed, for he will not rise again save under exceptional 

 circumstances. Immense numbers of these birds are slaughtered yearly, especially 

 along the Atlantic Coast. They have this at least to recommend them. — that they 

 are easy practice for juvenile hunters. They afiford less meat, however, than so 

 many English sparrows, and qualms of conscience make poor sauce. 



Though rightly counted shy, the Sora possesses one trait which brings it into 

 frequent notice — curiosity. Often when I have been lying in a boat waiting for 

 ducks among the aquatic plants, some little distance off shore and removed from 

 the usual haunts of the Sora, I have heard sundry keks half apprehensive, half 

 quizzical, followed by the splashing of light feet as a troop of the little Rails 

 worked their way out and surrounded me, under pretense, indeed, of searching 

 for food, but being all too plainly prompted by inquisitiveness. Dr. Howard Jones 

 tells of similar experiences : "I have had them come up to me and peck my gum 

 boots, and play wnth the gun barrel as a bantam rooster does when teased." 



A slight platform of rushes or a shallow basket of Avoven cat-tail leaves 

 and grasses serves for a nest. A site is chosen anywhere in the swamp, but 

 usually in a rather open situation. Sometimes a tussock of grass is used, and 

 the growing blades curl over to conceal this anchored ark of bulrushes. The 

 Sora is a little more prolific than her cousin the Virginia, a dozen eggs being 

 commonly found and fourteen and fifteen not infrequently. In the latter case 

 the eggs are apt to be in two layers. The ochraceous cast of the ground color is 



300 



