SHORE AND MARSH BIRDS. Rails 



known locally as the Little Eed Rail and is a perfect copy, 

 in miniature, of the King Rail, which only visits us 

 casually, but is well known from the Middle States south- 

 ward. The Virginia Rail is very shy and Avill always hide, 

 if possible, instead of flying, and it has the faculty of run- 

 ning across water upon a few floating sticks and bits of litter. 

 Dr. Coues, in his " Birds of the Northwest," in describing 

 a night scene in Arizona near the Mojave River, where he 

 suffered many hardships, speaks of the haunts of the Rail 

 thus : " At nightfall some Mallard and Teal settled into the 

 rushes, gabbling curious vespers as they Avent to rest. A 

 few Marsh Wrens appeared on the edge of the reeds, 

 queerly balancing themselves on the thread-like leaves, see- 

 sawing to their own quaint music. Then they were hushed, 

 and as darkness settled down, the dull, heavy croaking of 

 the frogs played bass to the shrill falsetto of the insects. 

 Suddenly they too were hushed in turn, frightened may l)e, 

 into silence ; and from the heart of the bullrushes, ' crik- 

 crik-rik-k-k-k,' lustily shouted some wide-awake Rail, to be 

 answered by another and another, till the reeds resounded. 

 . . . The Rails are, partially at least, nocturnal. During 

 such moonlight nights as they are on the alert, patrolling 

 the marshes through the countless ways among the reeds, 

 stopping to cry, 'all's well' as they pass on, or to answer 

 the challenge of a distant watchman. That they feed by 

 night, as well as by day, cannot be doubted. Their habit 

 of skulking and hiding in the most inaccessible places they 

 frequent renders them difficult of observation, and they are 

 usually considered rarer than they really are." 



Sora: Porzana Carolina, 



Carolina Rail. 



Plate XII. Fig. 6. 

 Length : 8-9 inches. 



Male and Female : Bill only f incli long, straight and stout. Above 

 olive, brownish, and black, many feathers having white edges 

 and with black and white barring on the flanks. Breast slate- 

 247 



