THE SORA RAIL. 



ARIOUS are the names re- 

 quired to distinguish the 

 little slate-colored Carolina 

 Rail from its brethren, Sora, 

 Common Rail, and, on the Potomac 

 river, Ortolan, being among them. 

 He is found throughout temperate 

 North America, in the weedy swamps 

 of the Atlantic states in great abund- 

 ance, in the Middle states, and in Cal- 

 ifornia. In Ohio he is a common sum 

 mer resident, breeding in the exten- 

 sive swamps and wet meadows. The 

 nest is a rude affair made of grass and 

 weeds, placed on the ground in a tus- 

 sock of grass in a boggy tract of land, 

 where there is a growth of briars, etc., 

 where he may skulk and hide in the 

 wet grass to elude observation. The 

 nest may often be discovered at a dis- 

 tance by the appearance of the sur- 

 rounding grass, the blades of which 

 are in many cases interwoven over the 

 nest, apparently to shield the bird 

 from the fierce rays of the sun, which 

 are felt with redoubled force on the 

 marshes. 



The Rails feed on both vegetable 

 and animal food. During the months 

 of September and October, the weeds 

 and wild oats swarm with them. 

 They feed on the nutricious seeds, 

 small snail shells, worms and larvae of 

 insects, which they extract from the 

 mud. The habits of the Sora Rail, 

 its thin, compressed body, its aversion 

 to take wing, and the dexterity with 



which it runs or conceals itself among 

 the grass and sedge, are exactly simi- 

 lar to those of the more celebrated 

 Virginia Rail. 



The Sora frequents those parts of 

 marshes preferably where fresh water 

 springs rise through the morass. Here 

 it generally constructs its nest, '' one 

 of which," says an observer, " we had 

 the good fortune to discover. It was 

 built in the bottom of a tuft of grass 

 in the midst of an almost impenetrable 

 quagmire, and M-as composed alto- 

 gether of old wet grass and rushes. 

 The eggs had been flooded out of the 

 nest by the extraordinary rise of the 

 tide in a violent northwest storm, and 

 lay scattered about the drift weed. 

 The usual number of eggs is from six 

 to ten. They are of a dirty white or 

 pale cream color, sprinkled with specks 

 of reddish and pale purple, most num- 

 erous near the great end." 



When on the wing the Sora Rail flies 

 in a straight line for a short distance 

 with dangling legs, and suddenly 

 drops into the water. 



The Rails have many foes, and 

 many nests are robbed of tlieir eggs by 

 weasels, snakes. Blackbirds, and Marsh 

 Hawks, although the last cannot 

 disturb them easily, as the Marsh 

 Hawk searches for its food while fly- 

 ing and a majority of the Rails' nests 

 are covered over, making it hard to 

 distinguish them when the Hawk is 

 above. 



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