PALUDICOL^E. 59 



disturbed. They are so protectively colored, and know so 

 well how to assume protective attitudes, that they have small 

 need to leave their covers. 



70. (208.) RALLUS ELEGANS Audi 231. 



King Rail. 



Synonyms: Fresh-water Marsh Hen, Red-breasted Rail. 

 Wheaton, Ohio Agri. Report, 1860, 369, 378. 



Inland this does not appear to be a common bird, but in 

 shallow ponds or lagoons near the lake it is common. It is 

 probably a summer resident wherever it occurs in the state, 

 nesting in the marshes. 



It reaches Oberlin about the first of May, but I have no 

 records for the southward migration. 



71. (212.) RALLUS VIRGINIANUS Linn. 232. 



Virginia Rail. 

 Nuttall, Man. II, 1835, 205. 



This is probably the most common of the rails along the 

 lake front where it is found in every marsh of any extent, 

 and may even resort to wet meadows to nest. He is so sly 

 and so hard to flush in spring that few but those who are 

 on the lookout and know where to find him realize his pres- 

 ence. The nest- is generally placed on a hummock formed 

 by the roots of a bush or tuft of grass in the marsh, often 

 without concealment. In movement this bird resembles a 

 chicken, just as the King Rail resembles a hen. It is less 

 common than the Sora away from the lake marshes, becom- 

 ing even rare as a summer resident near our southern bor- 

 der. 



The Virginia Rail reaches Lorain county about the first of 

 May, and has gone south by the middle of September. 



72. (214.) PORZANA CAROLINA (Linn.). 233. 

 Sora. 



Synonyms: Rallus carolinus. 



Carolina Rail, Ortolan, Crake, Carolina Crake, Common Rail. 

 Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 165, 185. 



