THE GREAT RED-BREASTED RAIL. 



221 



the eye a dull white line, terminating with brownish orange; 

 lower eyelids white, loral space, and a band behind the eye 

 dusky; upper parts of the body brownish-black ; the feathers 

 broadly margined with light olive brown ; wing coverts dull 

 chestnut; primaries dark brown, inner secondaries and tail 

 feathers same as the back ; throat white ; forepart and sides of 

 the neck, with the breast, bright orange brown ; abdomen and 

 sides of the body, dark brown, faintly barred with dark brown ; 

 lower tail coverts, white, with a black spot near the end ; the 

 middle feathers, black, barred with white. 



The flesh of the King Kail is very similar to that of the 

 Sora, perhaps not quite so delicate, but at times equally as 

 juicy and tender. The Rallus Elegans affects fresh-water 

 marshes only, never being found on the seaboard ; it pene- 

 trates far into the interior, and has the same wild and skulkinsr 

 habits as the other variety ; its flight is short and apparently 

 labored, and it requires but a slight " rap" to knock it over. 

 This Bird swims and dives, when wounded, with great dexterity, 

 and resorts to the same artifices to conceal itself beneath the 

 water as the Sora Rail. 



We shot one of these Birds on an upland marsh in the 

 midst of a heavy wood, in the interior of Maryland, during the 

 month of July. 



The King Rail is also known as the fresh-water Marsh Hen, 

 in contradistinction to the Clapper Rail, which is often spoken 

 of as the " salt-water Marsh Hen." 



