WILD FOWL. 245 



ing them on the head, to prevent their having to 

 endure a repetition of the trials which they had 

 suffered when with me, but having a desire for cash, 

 I argued successfully against my thoughts, and 

 was thus induced to spare them. After all, were 

 they not playing the part destined for them ? and 

 if they could still be useful to my fellow-men, how 

 selfish would it have been in me to have wantonly 

 sacrificed their lives. 



The fourth day after our arrival here, when wan- 

 dering to the westward of our camp I discovered an 

 immense stretch of swamp. Wild fowls of many 

 varieties were most abundant, also that noble bird, 

 the sand-hill crane, whose whooping notes I could 

 incessantly hear, although hovering so far aloft as to 

 be beyond the reach of vision. Another most inter- 

 esting feathered beauty abounding here was the 

 American rail (Rallus Carolinus), which is frequently 

 called by those persons who reside in the vicinity of 

 its haunts, the ' sorra/ and which resembles in many 

 respects our familiar land-rail or corn-crake. It is 

 migratory, arriving in, and disappearing from, the 

 localities which it frequents with wonderful precision 

 of date. As this bird is so much prized as a table 

 delicacy, and affords a favourite pastime to the lovers 

 of sport, a description of its appearance and habits, 

 as well as of the method employed in its pursuit, 

 may not be uninteresting. 



Among the writings of an observant naturalist I 

 find the following short and precise sketch of its 



