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The Amazon Rail. 



done with him, she climbed on; to my shoulder, and shouted 

 (she speaks rather nicely) "Come on," "come on," "come 

 on," but needless to say the Rail was not inclined to 

 respond; he seemed to think that the far end of his pond 

 was quite the best place, while little demons of Parrots were 



The Aniiizon Rai 



{Photo by W. Shore- Bai/y). 



about. Had it been a Finch or similar bird, I have no 

 doubt but that the Rail would have killed it. I once kept the 

 so-called Grey-headed and Blue Rails (P. pniioccphaliis and 

 P. porphyria) and found them particularly murderous with 

 small birds. They would take their unfortunate v^ictims in 

 their claws and literally tear them limb from limb. They were 

 perfect Huns, in fact. Still they are very handsome birds 

 and I have often wondered why no attempts have been made 



