Water Birds 385 



of wind than a bird's voice, may be heard even in the 

 night and is one of the most weird and never-to-be-for- 

 gotten sounds in nature." 1 



WADING BIRDS 



The rail family. Rails are marsh birds, with short 

 wings, bare legs, long toes to support them on the mud 

 or on floating plants, and narrow bodies adapted to 

 passing between reeds or rushes. In the springtime the 

 marshes resound with their harsh cries. They do not 

 probe into the mud, as snipes and sandpipers do, but 

 take from the surface snails, Crustacea, insects, and 

 seeds. Their rude, flat nests on the ground or in a tuft 

 of herbage are built of sticks, rush stalks, and grasses. 

 The eggs are spotted and are usually six or more, some- 

 times fifteen in number. The young are covered with 

 black down and can run soon after they hatch. 



The largest of our species, the king rail or fresh-water 

 marsh hen, is 15 inches long, with its wings 6| inches 

 and its bill about 2-j inches in length. Its back is vari- 

 egated with olive-brown and blackish; its under parts 

 are reddish brown. Of the same color but smaller is 

 the Virginia rail, its wings only 4 inches long. The 

 Carolina rail or sora is the most common species in the 

 eastern and middle parts of the United States, but less 

 common than the Virginia rail in the West. It is 8i 

 inches long, a little smaller than the Virginia rail, 

 and has a much shorter beak. Its upper parts are 

 olive-brown, varied with black, with numerous sharp 

 white streaks and specks; below it is mainly whitish. 



1 Langille. 



