NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 263 



W. Leon Dawson (1903) writes: 



The food of the marsh hen consists of insects, slugs, leeches, tadpoles, and 

 small crayfish, besides a goodly proportion of seeds from aquatic and palustral 

 plants. The last are obtained not only from the soft bed of ooze upon which 

 they may have fallen, but from the seed pods themselves, since the bird can 

 -climb quite nimbly. Like all birds of this class, the most active hours are spent 

 just after sunset and before sunrise. But in a region where they were in little 

 fear of molestation, I have seen them deploy upon an extensive mud flat in broad 

 daylight and go prodding about in company with migrant sandpipers, for the 

 worms which riddle the ooze with their burrows. At such times, too, I have seen 

 ^a few standing stock still for a quarter of an hour at a stretch, evidently to catch 

 :a wink of sleep along with their sun bath, and trusting, perhaps, to their more 

 vigilant neighbors to give warning of approaching danger. 



Behavior. — Audubon (1840) writes: 



The flight of this rail resembles that of the salt-water kind, but is considerably 

 stronger and more protracted. When suddenly flushed, they rise and go off with 

 a chuck, their legs danghng beneath, and generally proceed in a straight line for 

 some distance, after which they drop among the thickest grass, and run off with 

 surprising speed. In several instances they have been known to stand before a 

 'Careful pointer. They are less apt to take to the water than the Rallus crepitans, 

 ^nd are by no means so expert at diving. 



■Col. N. S. Goss (1891) says: 



Its flights, when not suddenly started, are at dusk and during the night. It 

 springs into the air with dangling legs and rapid strokes of its short wings; but 

 if going any distance, its legs, like its neck, are soon stretched out to their full 

 extent, flying rather slowly and near the ground. Its call note, " Creek, creek, 

 creek, creek," and of flight, " Cark, cark, cark," can often be heard both night and 

 •day, and at times during the early breeding season they are almost as noisy as 

 the guinea hens. If it were not for its voice its presence would seldom be known, 

 as it skulks and hides from its pursuers, and when hard pressed runs into the 

 deeper waters within the reeds and rushes, preferring to swim (and can also dive) 

 to taking wing, knowing well that it is safer within its watery, grassy cover, for 

 •which it is so well adapted, 



Mr. Murchison (1895) refers to its notes as follows: 



One of the very characteristic sounds of bird voices to be heard on the borders 

 and nearby ponds of the large swamps in Henry County, Illinois, is the "chuck- 

 chuck " of the king rail, or " stage driver," as he is called by the natives, from 

 the almost exact imitation of the "chuck " of the plowboy to his plodding team. 



Enemies. — The king rail is considered a game bird and is pursued 

 to some extent by sportsmen. Its flesh is said to be tender and juicy 

 and to resemble that of the sora rail, as it is largely a vegetarian. 

 But its flight is so slow and it is so easily killed that it is not much of 

 a sporting proposition. 



Audubon (1840) says: 



These birds are rarely shot by common gunners, on account of the difficulty 

 of raising them, and because they generally confine themselves to places so 

 swampy and covered with briars, smilaxes, and rough weeds, that they are 

 scarcely accessible. But although they are thus safe from men they are not with- 



