280 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



MEMORANDA. 



1. Rails migrate regularly, as many other birds, and pass the 

 breeding season in the North and the winter in the Far South. 



2. These migrations are invariably performed under cover of 

 night, and hence the mystery of their sudden appearance: they 

 are capable of long flights, and have frequently been caught far 

 out at sea. 



3. Like the reed-birds, they are very partial to the seeds of the 

 Zizania aquatica, and consequently frequent the river-shores where 

 this plant flourishes in the greatest profusion. 



4. Rails make their appearance in the Delaware and Schuylkill 

 Rivers early in August, and remain till the frost warns them to 

 seek the sunny South. 



5. Rails are easily killed; two pellets of small shot are quite 

 sufficient to knock them down. When wounded, they swim and 

 skulk with great skill. 



6. The greatest number of rails as yet killed on any one tide is 

 one nundred and ninety-five. 



