The King Rail (}<"ii'<s cicgaiis) 



By L\ lids Jones 



Lenj^lh : 14 to 17 inches. 



Range: Eastern United States, ndrth to the .Miilille States, iitjrthern Illi- 

 nois, Wisconsin and Kansas, 



Synonyms. — Red-breasted Rail; .Marsh Hen; Fresh-water Marsh Hen. 



Description. — Adult: Above brownish black, tlie feathers broadly striped 

 laterally with lig-hter browns (wood-brown, bistre and olive-brown), and shad- 

 ing into burnt umber on wing-coverts and edges of quills ; forehead with numer- 

 ous, enlarged, glossy, black shafts without attendant vanes ; a light line over eye 

 in front, and a dusky line through eye; lower eye-lid white: chin and upper 

 throat white ; lower throat and breast, reaching up well on sides of neck and 

 face, cinnamon-rufous (Mars brown), growing jialer medially and posteriorly; 

 belly, flanks and lining of wings brownish dusky or blackish, crossed by narrow, 

 white bars, lighter, or sometimes almost unmarked fulvous, centrally and on 

 thighs ; bill dark above, lighter below. 



Recognition Marks. — Little Hawk to Crow size; marsh-creeping habits. 

 Large size distinctive among the Rails of the interior. 



\est, of cat-tail leaves and grasses on the ground or in grass-tussock of 

 marsh. B(jgs, 6-12, dull wliite or liufty, sparingly spotted and dotted with 

 reddish brown and purplish gray. Av. size, 1.65x1.21 (41.9x30.8). 



Rushes, sedges, arums and waving cat-tail leaves form a curtain of living 

 green which effectuallv screens the private life of the Rails from the common 

 eye. From behind the curtain issue certain sounds which we attribute to this 

 bird or that, if we are wise, but that is all. Now and then, indeed, some ruthless 

 invader dashes behind the decent folds and sends the Rail-folk scurrying. This, 

 to say the least, is rude, and brings its own punishment — an empty swamj). or 

 maybe a few lini]) carcases; but what are they? No: if you would learn Rail 

 wavs, you must do as Kails do — pry and spy, lurk ami peep, and above all, when 

 the time comes, keep silent. To thread the mazes of the swamp, to know its 

 mysteries, to be on intimate terms with its inhabitants, to speak its language, 

 that is an achievement. But if it is only exercise or "sport'" you are wanting, 

 go shoot bloodless pigeons made of clay, on some pleasant hillside. 



The most that can be learned about the King Rail in thrashing about 

 a swam]) is that it rises suddenly, flies slowly in a straight line just above 

 the tops of the reeds, and plumps down suddenly not far away, as though its 

 wings had given out. It affords an easy mark for the sportsman, being, in 

 fact, about as severe a test of skill as a tomato can floating down stream. The 

 gunner learns, too, that the bird is haril to flush, and that if it has any sort of a 

 show for cover, will run rapidly through the weeds, and skulk, rather than 

 seek safety in flight. 



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