240 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 0, 1832. 



NATURAL, HISTORY. 



THE SORA. 



A question has lately been put in the papers— 

 Whence cometh the Sora and whither goeth it ? ' 

 A writer in the Charleston Courier undertakes to 

 answer it. 



The Rallus Virginianus, a small bird ofO inches in 

 length, is in Virginia called the Sora, in Pennsylva- 

 nia the Rail, in New York the Water Hen. During 

 the whole of the summer, scarcely a bird of this de- 

 scription is seen in the Middle States, when early in 

 the month of August, all of sudden the well known 

 cackle of the Soras is heard along the reedy shores 

 of the Delaware, Schuylkill, and James Rivers. So 

 abundant are they that it is not uncommon for a sin- 

 gle sportsman to bag upwards of a hundred that have 

 been killed in one tide, during three hours. This 

 war of extermination continues for several weeks, 

 and the markets are abundantly supplied with these 

 delicious birds, until about the middle of October, 

 when in a single night, they all disappear as sudden- 

 ly as they arrived. On the very marshes where the 

 day before hundreds were killed, not a single bird is 

 now to be found. 



' Many persons contend that they bury themselves 

 in the mud, and remain inactive like amphibious an- 

 imals, till the following spring. Others believe that 

 they are chaniied mlo Frogs, and the skaters on the 

 waters of Virginia, seem at last to have made the 

 discovery, that thoy retreat under the ice, and thus 

 become fishes, (at least in their habits) during a part 

 of the year. 



'The Rallus family contains several species, of 

 which the Sora is one, and oi^r common Marsh Hen 

 another, and there is a beautiful species in the inte- 

 rior of Carolina, that was overlooked by VViLsox, and 

 remains yet to be described. The land Rail and 

 the water Crake of Britain, are of the same family, 

 and the habits of all bear a very strong similarity. 



'The Sora seldom breeds in the Middle States. — 

 The writer of this was shown some of the eggs of 

 this bird, that were found in the meadows bi'low 

 Philadelphia, he once found a nest along the Hudson 

 river, and saw two others along the marshes on Lake 

 Champlain, but it generally breeds much farther 

 North, as far as Hudson's Bay. He was informed by 

 an intelligent Trader, that in collecting the eggs of 

 the wild Goose (Anser ("anadensis) he found a great 

 number of the nests of the Sora. No sooner are 

 these birds well grown and able to fly, than they 

 mi'Trate southerly. By the time they arrive in the 

 Middle States, a species of reed (ihe Zizmia acquat- 

 ica of Elliott) begins to ripen its seeds. Of these 

 the Sora is very fond — feeding on it greedily, and 

 soon becoming fat. It is very susceptible of cold.and 

 the very first frost drives it reluctantly from its fa- 

 vorite reedy marshes, to seek a warmer climate. — 

 About the time these birds leave the rivers Delaware 

 and Virginia, they make their appearance in the 

 Carolinas in considerable numbers. They are scat- 

 tered among our marshes and grassy fields. They 

 are not easily made to rise on the wing, hence are 

 not frequently seen, but they are heard in every di- 

 rection, for several weeks. The writer of this saw 

 six that had been killed in a couple of hours, in the 



salt marshes near Charleston, by an individual while 

 in pursuit of March hens ; and in the present year, 

 one was shot on James Island, near this city, as late 

 as the "10th of November. Very few of these birds 

 spend the winter in the territory of the United States. 

 They no doubt follow in the train of many of our 

 Swallows, Fly-catchers, and Sylvias, and remain 

 within or south of the Tropics, till the Spring invites 

 their return. Certain it is, that about the beginning 

 of March, and sometimes a little earlier, the Soras 

 pass through our low country, on their way back to 

 the North, and their well known notes are for a few 

 weeks heard again in our low marshy grounds : they 

 advance rapidly through the Middle and Northern 

 Slates, are seen on the rivers that empty into the 

 upper lakes, and retire still farther North, on their 

 way to their annual breeding places. 



The Sora appears to be a clumsy flyer, but this is 

 merely a habit, which it has with many other birds, 

 who see best in the evening or at night, and fly awk- 

 wardly and with seeming difliculty in the day. Let 

 the observer only take his stand on the banks of the 

 Delaware or Schuylkill, in the month of September, 

 early in the morning or late in the evening, and he 

 will see it dart across the river, with the ease and 

 rapidity of the Snipe. It is as capable of migrating 

 as any other bird. In the Autumn of 1819, we saw 

 two that flew on board of a ship thirty miles from 

 land, and it is mentioned by Bishop Madiso.n, that 

 several Soras came on board of a vessel, upwards of 

 three hundred miles from the Capes of the Chcsa 

 peake. That this bird is not more frequently seen 

 in its migrations, is owing to the circumstance of its 

 flying by night, and of its being consequently never 

 seen making long flights by day. This habit of mi- 

 grating by night it possesses in common with the 

 Woodcock, i^Scolopax Minor) the Snipe, the Rice 

 bird, and many others. 



That a few of these birds may from some cause be 

 overtaken by the winter in the North, and many un- 

 der such circumstances, hide themselves from the 

 severity of the cold, in hollow logs, drains, or even 

 under broken pieces of ice, where there is but little 

 water, is possible; but that they can under such cir- 

 cumstances, si:rvive the winter, or even a few days, 

 is highly improbable. If the writer in the Peters- 



weeds under water, and dies there, but it more fre- 

 quently rises near the surface, and merely protrudes 

 a sufficient portion of its bill out of the water to ena- 

 ble it to breathe. We once in company with some 

 naturalists of Philadelphia, tried an experiment up- 

 on two Soras tliat had been slightly wounded in the 

 winii, to ascertain how long they could live under 

 the water. They were placed in a covered basket 

 which was sunk in the river. One remained 15 min- 

 utes in the water, the other 8 ; on taking them out 

 both were found dead ; we placed them in the bud 

 for several days, but they were never resuscitated. 



The perplexities witli regard to the migration of 

 birds, are every day removing. Not many years ago 

 it was supposed that the swallows retired into hol- 

 low trees, or under the water, and there remained 

 dormant through the winter until the cheering sun of 

 Sprinj; revived them ; but any careful observer who 

 will place himself on the outskirts of our city from 

 August to November, and will look about him, may 

 easily unravel the mystery. There he will see the 

 swallows, from the purple martin down to the minute 

 bank swallow, sailing gaily through the air in pursuit 

 of their favorite food, and winging their way from 

 their breeding places in the North to the sunny south 

 where abundance of insects and balmy skies welcome 

 their annual return. And could he but have the 

 faculty uf seeing by night as well as by day, he 

 would find the now mysterious Sora pursuing the 

 same course, and with the rice bird, with which it 

 has associated on the reeds of the rivers in the mid- 

 dle States, going to spend the winter in a climate 

 more congenial to its tender frame. 



A Lover of Natural HisTORr. 

 Charleston, Jan. 2. 



Animaiiition. 



OF the best quality ai.d lou-est prices, for sporting — 

 ronstaialy lor .-ale at fOPELAND'-S POW DER STOKE, 

 6; Broad Street. 



N. B. If the quality is not found ".atisfactory, it may 

 be returned, and the money willbu rel'mueu Jan. 1 



Jewelry, Watches, and Fancy Goods. 



WM. M. WESSON, No. 105 Washington Street, 

 Boston, is conslanlly supplied wilh a good assortment 

 of Watches, Silver and Plaled Ware, Jewelry, Cutlery, 

 Trays of all kiods, Fancy Gooils, ^c, ^c, which he will 

 dispose of at hs low a rale as can he purchased in the 

 burgpa'per means to convey the idea that the birds city. [D= Watches repaired and warranted. 



he refers to come out of the water, from under the - - ^^^^ 



ice, where thoy had no access to the atmospheric air, I P^^'i^hed every Wednesday Evening, at S3 per annum, 

 ' •' ... payable al the end ol tlie }ear — but those who pay w:lhin 



ne must have intended it as a hoax on the natura..„..,| ^. ^^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^ ^^ 



who are supposed to swallow but too greedily the i j^j^^jj^^ ^f gfjy pg„,g 



marvellous tales of those v/hoaflerwards make them- ] 



selves merry at their credulity. We might as soon 



expect to see the Wliiting, the Mullet, the Perch, or 



others of the finny tribe, skipping out from beneath 



the furrows of the plough, as to see the Sora emerging 



from under the w,ater, where it had quietly gone to 



spend the winter among the fishes and amphibious 



reptiles. Any one vvho will examine the internal 



structure of this bird, m ust be convinced that it is 

 incapable of remaining under water beyond a very 



short time. The habits which it possesses, with sev- 

 eral others of the same genus, of diving, and disap- 

 pearing for a considerable length of time when 

 wounded, has induced many persons to believe that it 

 could not be drowned. This hovvever is not the fact. 

 When wounded, it sometimes clings to marshes and 



ubsciibing, are entitled to a 



[HP No paper will be sent to a distance without payment 

 being made in advance. 



Printed for J. B. Rissell, by 1, R. Botts — by whom 

 all descriptions ff Printing can be executed to meet tlie 

 wishes of customers. Orders for Printing received by J. B. 

 Russell, at the Agricultural Warehouse, JNo. 52, North 

 Market Street. 



AGEXTS. 

 iVt'io York — G. Thorburn iV Sons, 67 Liberty.-8treet. 

 Albany — Win. Thokbuk.v, St? Market street. 

 Phiiailelplua — D. it C, Laniirlth, 85 Chestnut-street. 

 liaUimore — G. B. Smith, Editor of the American Farmer. 

 Cincinnati — S. C. Parkhurst, 23 Lower Market-street. 

 Flushing. N. Y. VVm. Prince & Sons, Prop.Lin.BotGarden 

 Middlebiiry, Vt. — Wight Chapman, 

 Hartford — Goodwin & Co, Booksellers, 

 Springfiefd, Ms. — E.Edwards, 

 N^whuryport. — Ei'Enezer Stedman, Bookseller. 

 Portsmouth. N. H. — J. W. Foster, Bookseller. 

 Portland, Me. — Samuel Colman, Bookseller. 

 A'igusta. Me. — Wm. Mann. 



liSi/ax, N. S. — P. J. Holland, Esq. Recorder GiBc*. 

 Montreal, L. C. — Henry Hillock. 



