ALECTORIDES. 335 



only a few inches above the bog surface. The eggs are 

 few in number, two or three, with rough, warty shells. 



The birds of the rail type are small, or of medium 

 size, have compressed bodies, and their heads are com- 

 pletely feathered. The body is so much compressed as 

 to appear wedge-shaped when viewed from the front; 

 this is of extreme advantage to the birds when threading 

 their way through the thick matted grasses of the swamps 

 which they inhabit in search of food, or in flight from 

 some enemy. The thin body itself seems to part the 

 reeds and grasses, propelled forward by the strong legs. 

 The phrase, "as thin as a rail," is not always given its 

 proper relationship to these thin- bodied birds. 



The necks and legs of the rails are not unusually 

 long, but the toes are extremely long, and this fact 

 makes it easy for the birds to run over the surface of 

 the wet, oozy ground of their marshes. The birds are 

 shy and retiring, and have a way of skulking along 

 among the reeds and rushes where they hunt their prey. 

 The king rail, the largest of his kind, has a rather comical 

 way of stepping loftily along, lifting his short legs with 

 their enormous toes very high and bobbing his short tail 

 jerkily at every step. When the rails are pursued they 

 seek safety first by running or hiding, and when really 

 flushed they rise feebly and vaguely at first. An observer 

 of them at this time would hardly think that they could 

 make the long flights that they do make every year, and 

 for which they are famous. Their cries are loud and 

 harsh, and they scream piteously when they are caught. 



The food of the cranes consists of frogs, snakes, lizards, 

 and field mice. Rails eat crabs, snails and other small 

 mollusks, also grubs, worms, and insects, as well as the 

 seeds and tender shoots of plants. 



