R A L L U S. 



523 



shorter, and the dark colours paler ; and both birds 

 have the plumage paler in winter than in summer. 

 The nest is in close concealment near the edge of the 

 water. The eggs are nearly or . altogether white ; 

 they are rather numerous, but the number varies con- 

 jsiderably. 



The water-rail is a very cautious bird, as well as a 

 very concealed one ; and, though each individual, 

 not having the benefit of sentinels, as flocking birds 

 have, must keep its own watch, yet it is very seldom 

 surprised, and still more seldom taken : what with 

 running, wading, dashing across the brook, boring 

 through bushes, brakes, and herbage, doubling, turn- 

 ing, and otherwise shitting its -course, it defies both 

 the dog and the gun. There is no very great temp- 

 tation, indeed, to kill it as game, for, though it is 

 generally fat, the flavour of its flesh is unpleasant. 

 When it can be seen alive, and displaying its agility 

 and its wiles, it is a very interesting bird. 



America is much more of a rail's country than 

 Europe or the greater part of Asia ; and therefore 

 we must notice some of the American species. The 

 great difference of the seasons in the United States 

 makes the greater part of them migrant in that part 

 of America. 



Tm CLAPPER RAIL (R. crcpitans) is one of the 

 most remarkable of the North American ones, and, 

 like our corncrake, it makes itself to be heard all the 

 nightlong. It is larger than our water-rail, being 

 fourteen inches in length, and eighteen in the stretch 

 of the wings ; the bill is two inches and a quarter 

 long, slightly bent, and of a reddish brown colour ; 

 the upper part is black, streaked with dull brown ; 

 the chin and streak over the eye are brownish white ; 

 the fore neck and breast are reddish brown, the flanks 

 and vent black, with white tips to the feathers ; the 

 coverts of the wiifgs are dark chestnut, brown, and the 

 tail-feathers and quills dusky, without any margins ; 

 the legs are dull brown, and the irides dark red. 



This species -is very common, during the summer, 

 through all the latitudes of the United States ; but it 

 keeps near the sea-coast instead of passing into the 

 interior. It is different in habit from the water- 

 rail of Europe, as it prefers the salt marshes to the 

 small streams which scum the dry ground. It is a 

 very noisy bird, especially during the night and before 

 rain, which are of course the times when those mollusca, 

 Crustacea, and other small animals upon which it 

 feeds in the marshes, are in greatest activity and most 

 easily obtained. Wilson compares the cry which it 

 utters to that of a Guinea fowl, which is not the most 

 musical note in the world. They arrive in the 

 northern states about the month of April, and, though 

 its flight is not seen, its note is very speedily heard. 



Wilson's account of the casualties to which it is 

 exposed in the breeding time is so graphic, that we 

 shall, in part, quote it: "About the twentieth of 

 May," says he," they usually begin building and laying 

 at the same time ; the first egg being usually dropped 

 in a slight cavity lined with a little dry grass pressed 

 for the purpose, which, as the eggs increase to their 

 usual complement, is gradually added to till it rises 

 to the height of twelve inches or more, doubtless to 

 secure it from the rising of the tides. Over this the 

 long salt grass is artfully arched, to conceal it from 

 the view above ; but this very circumstance enables 

 the experienced eercr-hunter to distinguish the spot at 

 the distance of thirty or forty yards, though imper- 

 ceptible to a common eye. The eggs are of a pale 



clay-colour, sprinkled with small spots of dark red, 

 'and measure somewhat more than an inch and a half 

 in length, by an inch in breadth, being rather obtuse 

 at the small end. These eggs are delicious eating, 

 far surpassing those of the domestic hen. The height 

 of laying is about the first of June, when the people 

 of the neighbourhood go to the marshes an egging, as 

 it is called. So abundant are the nests of this species, 

 and so dexterous some persons at finding them, that 

 one hundred dozen of eggs have been collected by 

 one man in a day. At this time the crows, the mirgc, 

 and the foxes, come in for their share ; but, not con- 

 tent with the eggs, these last often seize and devour 

 the parents also. The bones, feathers, wings, &c., of 

 the poor mud hen lie in heaps by the hole of the 

 minx ; by which circumstance, however, he himself is 

 often detected and destroyed." 



It seems as if the very elements were in conspiracy 

 against these birds : they " are subject to another 

 calamitv of a more extensive kind : after the greater 

 part of _the eggs are laid, there sometimes happen 

 violent north-east tempests that drive a great sea 

 into the bay, covering the whole marshes ; so that at 

 such times the rail maybe seen in hundreds floating 

 over the marsh in great distress ; many escape to the 

 main land, and vast numbers perish. On an oc- 

 casion of this kind I have seen, at one view, thou- 

 sands in a single meadow, walking about exposed 

 and bewildered, while the dead bodies of the females, 

 who perished on r near their nests, were strewed 

 along the shore. The last circumstance shows how 

 strong the tie of maternal affection is in these birds ; 

 for, of the great number which I picked up and 

 opened, not one male was to be found among them ; 

 all were females; such as had not yet begun to sit, 

 probably escaped. These disasters do not prevent 

 the survivors from recommencing the work of laying 

 and building anew ; and instances have occurred in 

 which their eggs have been twice destroyed, by the' 

 sea, and yet in two weeks the nests and eggs seemed 

 as numerous as ever." This passage would afford 

 much scope for meditating on the physiology, of 

 birds ; but our limits forbid our entering upon it, 

 and so we must leave it as an exercise tor the 

 reader. 



If all is well, the young are soon able to run about, 

 which they do with great swiftness, and tread the 

 grass and other marsh plants with wonderful dex- 

 terity. They can swim in smooth water, though they 

 are of course ill able to contend with an inbreak of 

 the sea. Swimming is a much more severe action in 

 them, however, than in birds which have the feet 

 webbed or lobed. Though they strike powerfully, 

 their stroke tells but little upon the water ; and, con- 

 sequently, though they strike rapidly, the}' move 

 slowly. Their feet are for the land, not for the 

 water ; and on level ground they run as fast as a man, 

 while among the hummocks, and under the cover 

 of the marshes, they very speedily get out of reach. 



THE VIRGINIAN RAIL (A. rir^inianm) is not, upon 

 the whole, unlike the European species, but it wants 

 the grey on the breast, and has the toes less pro- 

 duced. This bird is not so abundant as the former, 

 and it does not choose its nesting-place so far into 

 the salt marsh, but remains on the margin. It is also 

 found' by the streams and pools of fresh water, on 

 which account it is locally called the fresh-water mud 

 hen, while the other and larger one is the hen of the 

 salt water. Its manners appear to be as like those of 



