THE YELLOW RAIL. 



( Porzana noveboracensis. ) 



The summer home of the Yellow Rail 

 is in the swamps, marshes and the reedy 

 margins of streams and lakes of the east- 

 ern United States, northward to Hudson 

 Bay and westward from Nova Scotia to 

 Utah and Nevada. It winters in the 

 Southern States. It has been considered 

 a very rare bird by many students. It is, 

 however, quite common in many local- 

 ities, but because of the tall grasses and 

 sedges which it frequents, it is rarely 

 seen unless flushed by dogs. It has "a 

 reputation for rarity that doubtless the 

 blackbirds, bobolinks and marsh wrens, 

 which alone can penetrate into the mys- 

 teries of the sedges, would express differ- 

 ently were they able to retail secrets." It 

 is an exceedingly timid bird, and seems 

 to fully realize that it can more readily 

 escape danger within the tall and dense 

 growth of marsh herbage than it could by 

 flight. The compressed head and body 

 of the Yellow Rail permits it to run rap- 

 idly through the narrow and winding 

 lanes between the stems of reeds and 

 sedges. An observer m.ight look over a 

 large expanse of m.arshy ground for 

 hours or even for days and not discover 

 that the deep vegetation harbored many 

 Yellow Rails. Possibly if he were at his 

 lookout early in the morning or in the 

 evening, the presence of the Rails might 

 be revealed to him by their voices, which 

 Thomas Nuttall and others have described 

 as sounding like an "abrupt cackling cry 

 'krek, 'krek, 'krek, 'krek, kiik, 'k'kh." 

 The sound of this call is not unlike the 

 croaking of the tree toad. The call and 

 answers, if they may be so designated, 

 lasts for several minutes in the morning, 

 or, it would seem, until the birds are sat- 

 isfied that all who have been separated 



during the night are accounted for. Then 

 all is quiet, usually for the remainder of 

 the day, until the twilight of evening. 

 Within the protection of its environment, 

 the Yellow Rail finds plenty of food and 

 it seldom exposes itself on the border of 

 its marshy home. When it does, how- 

 ever, it plainly shows its timidity, and 

 the slightest disturbance will cause it to 

 beat a hasty retreat to the sheltering 

 cover of sedges, and no one can tell how 

 far or in what direction it runs within 

 this retreat. When forced to fly, it is 

 easy game for the gunner, for its flight is 

 feeble and labored. Its food consists of 

 aquatic insects and the seeds of the marsh 

 vegetation. 



Though the Yellow Rail is known to 

 nest in certain localities of the Northern 

 United States, it also breeds much fur- 

 ther north. Mr. Hutchins, as quoted by 

 Mr. Nuttall, says regarding its habits in 

 the vicinity of Hudson Bay, "This ele- 

 gant bird is an inhabitant of the marshes 

 from the middle of May to the end of 

 September. It never flies above sixty 

 yards at a time, but runs with great 

 rapidity among the long grasses near the 

 shores. In the morning and evening it 

 utters a note which resembles the striking 

 of a flint and steel; at other times it 

 makes a shrieking noise." 



Within the confines of the marsh and 

 sheltered by the verdant vegetation, this 

 interesting little Rail finds the material 

 and a site for its home. Its nest, "a 

 loosely constructed affair of grass and 

 weed stems," is placed upon the ground 

 within the protecting shadows of bunches 

 of sedges or reeds. Often it is placed in 

 a tussock of grasses which is completely 

 surrounded by water. At all times the 

 nests are very difficult to locate. 



