102 WATER BIRDS 
to discover whether or not he is nesting there. But the 
marsh birds are shy and very wary, and the long marsh 
grass guards them well. It is far easier to hear them 
than to see them. If your patience endures long 
enough, you may catch a glimpse of a Rail picking 
his way cautiously between the tules, with a curious 
bobbing motion. If you are so fortunate as to find a 
mother. bird on her eggs, she will become rigid with 
terror, her red eye dilating and her long neck stretched 
up not unlike a water snake. In this position you may 
easily mistake her for a stick or a dry rush. If flushed, 
her small powers of flight suffice to carry her only a short 
distance, when she will disappear in the rushes and no 
patient waiting will give you another glimpse of her. 
My own experience goes to prove that the nest is always 
deserted by her after the first forced flight from it. 
Mr. Brewster says: “ The female, when anxious about 
her eggs or young, calls ki-ki-ki-ki in low tones, and 
kiw much like a flicker. The young of both sexes in 
autumn give, when startled, a short explosive kep or 
kik, closely similar to that of the Carolina rail.” 
214. SORA, OR CAROLINA RAIL. — Porzana carolina. 
Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. 
Length: 8.60. 
Adults: Feathers about base of bill black ; a broad black line through 
crown and extending down the back of the neck ; throat, breast, and 
cheeks gray ; upper parts grayish brown, streaked with black and 
white ; belly white ; flanks barred with blackish slate-color. 
Young: Similar, but no black at base of bill ; upper parts darker. 
Downy Young: Uniform black; a tuft of orange-colored, hair-like 
feathers on throat. ; 
