232 BIRDS OF THE MOOR. 



As if to guard against such an accident, the Eails gen- 

 erally build their nests around the margins of the marsh 

 or in elevated spots, at about the usual high-water mark. 

 The nest is always placed on the ground, in a bunch of 

 reeds or tussock of grass or clump of little bushes. It 

 is a flimsy structure made of dry grasses or reed-stalks 

 broken in pieces and matted together, but not inter- 

 twined. Sometimes it is barely thick enough to keep 

 the eggs from the wet. 



The Eail, though not formed like a natatorial bird, 

 swims very well for short distances. Dr. Coues has 

 often seen it take to the water from choice, without 

 necessity, and noticed that it swam buoyantly and with 

 ease, like a coot. But the bird is a poor flyer, and it is 

 surprising, therefore, that some of the family perform such 

 extensive migrations. The Eails, in fact, are not distin- 

 guished either as flyers or swimmers. But as walkers 

 they are unsurpassed ; and have the power of making a 

 remarkable compression of their body, that enables them 

 to pass through close-set reeds. The bird indeed, when 

 rapidly and slyly stealing through the brush, becomes 

 literally as " thin as a rail." 



Eails are among the most harmless and inoffensive of 

 birds. But when wounded or caught, they make the best 

 fight they can and show good spirit. In this case they 

 use their sharp claws for a weapon rather than their slen- 

 der bill. A colony of Eails goes far towards relieving a 

 marsh of its monotony. Eetiring and unfamiliar as they 

 are, and seldom seen, considering their immense numbers, 

 they have at times a very effective way of asserting them- 

 selves. Silent during a great part of the year, or at most 

 only indulging in a spasmodic croak now and then, dur- 

 ing the breeding-season they are perhaps the noisiest birds 

 in the country. Let a gun be fired in the marsh, and like 

 the reverberating echoes of the report a hundred cries 



