XLVII 



THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 



THE rails are related, ornithologically, to the 

 cranes. There is a decided difference from the 

 sportsman's point of view. Cranes, as we have ob- 

 served, are the most majestic and stately of our birds, 

 wary and difficult to approach at all times. The rails, 

 on the other hand, are most of them diminutive in 

 size, and all of them arise but a few feet from the gun, 

 literally fluttering out of the grass and presenting 

 marks so easy as to be uninteresting. 



The clapper-rail and the king-rail are the two 

 largest birds ; the clapper inhabits the salt marshes, 

 being rarely seen in the interior. The king-rail fre- 

 quents the fresh-water marshes. Two other rails, the 

 Carolina, or sora, dnd the Virginia rail, are worthy of 

 the sportsman's attention. These are not much larger 

 than sparrows. The rest of the rails might well be 

 spared on account of their insignificance. 



The Carolina, or sora, is the most abundant, and 

 thousands are found scattered about, feeding in the 

 reeds, rushes, and wild rice of tide-waters and in the 

 interior. They come in immense numbers to the 

 marshes about western rivers and lakes, and I have 

 shot many of them on the grounds now owned by the 

 Chicago clubs, and at the St. Clair flats, and at many 

 other places in the East and West. 



The clapper-rail and the king-rail are much less 



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