CAROLINA RAIL. Ill 



exclamation of " What can become of them ! " Some 

 profound inquirers, however, not discouraged with 

 these difficulties, have prosecuted their researches with 

 more success ; and one of those, living a few years ago 

 near the mouth of James River in Virginia, where the 

 rail or sora are extremely numerous, has (as I was 

 informed on the spot) lately discovered that they change 

 into frogs ! having Himself found in his meadows an 

 animal of an extraordinary kind, that appeared to be 

 neither a sora nor a frog, but, as he expressed it, 

 ** something between the two." He carried it to his 

 negroes, and afterwards took it home, where it lived 

 three days ; and in his own and his negroes' opinion, it 

 looked like nothing in this world but a real sera 

 changing into a frog ! What farther confirms this grand 

 discovery is the well known circumstance of the frogs 

 ceasing to hollow as soon as the sora comes in the fall. 



This sagacious discoverer, however, like many others 

 renowned in history, has found but few supporters, 

 and, except his own negroes, has not, as far as I can 

 learn, made a single convert to his opinion. Matters 

 being so circumstanced, and some explanation necessary, 

 I shall endeavour to throw a little more light on the 

 subject by a simple detail of facts, leaving the reader 

 to form his own theory as he pleases. 



The rail or sora belongs to a genus of birds of which 

 about thirty different species are enumerated by natu- 

 ralists; and those are distributed over almost every 

 region of the habitable parts of the earth. The general 

 character of these is every where the same. They run 

 swiftly, fly slowly, and usually with the legs hanging 

 down ; become extremely fat; are fond of concealment j 

 and, wherever it is practicable, prefer running to flying. 

 Most of them are migratory, and abound during tbe 

 summer in certain countries, the inhabitants of which 

 have very rarely an opportunity of seeing them. Of 

 this last the land rail of Britain is a striking example* 

 This bird, which during the summer months may be 

 heard in almost every grass and clover field in the. 

 kingdom, uttering its common note Crek, qrek, from 



