Rail-shooting 271 



webbed, and the bodies narrow. This combina- 

 tion of characters enables them to run rapidly and 

 with ease over the soft mud of the marshes they 

 frequent, or on the broad leaves of water-plants, 

 and also to pass without difficulty among the 

 thickly growing reeds and grasses. Their wings 

 are short, rounded, and somewhat hollow, so that 

 their flight is usually feeble and but for a short 

 distance, with the long legs hanging. Few of them 

 fly willingly, preferring to trust to their powerful 

 legs and their great skill in hiding among the 

 thick growth around them, than to their feeble 

 wings. Some of them carry this disinclination so 

 far as to allow themselves to be caught by a dog 

 rather than leave the ground. The flight of the 

 clapper rail is so feeble that I have frequently 

 seen a Chesapeake Bay dog, having finally suc- 

 ceeded in driving one from cover, follow it as it 

 flew and catch it soon after it struck the ground, 

 although it might have flown over one hundred 

 yards. Yet some species migrate long distances, 

 accomplishing these journeys at night. 



There are seldom striking contrasts in the 

 colors of the plumage of the rails, and the feathers 

 themselves are rather loose, and the tail short and 

 soft. The males and females are usually alike. 

 Their food, gathered amongst the rushes, on the 

 mud or in the water, may be either seeds, grasses, 

 and the buds and stems of water-plants, or small 



