THE BLACK RAIL 239 



fate by being shot almost off the dog's nose as 

 he drove it up from the ground. 



In form and habits the Yellow Rail is very 

 similar to the sora, but he dwells in the drier 

 levels of the marsh and in the meadow lands, 

 where the shorter grasses offer less impediment 

 to his feebler powers. His food is principally 

 of seeds, and his flesh (what there is of it) is 

 equally as good as that of the sora. 



THE BLACK RAIL. 



(Porzana jamaicensis.) 



Of all the feathered dwellers in or visitors to 

 New England this is the rarest. There are 

 very few records of its capture in our borders. 

 In fact, few are taken anywhere in the United 

 States, though it may be more common than is 

 generally supposed, since, because of its small 

 size and retiring disposition it might easily be 

 overlooked. Its range lies mostly to the south- 

 ward of the United States. The bird is more 

 common in the West Indies, Central and South 

 America, where it visits as far south as Chile. 

 In length this little fellow is from five and 

 one-half to six inches ; in extent about nine and 



