110 C H. Merriaui — Birds of Connecticut. 



lustily shouted some wi<le-a\vake IJail, to be answered by another 

 and another, till the reeds resounded. Then all was silent again till 

 the most courageous frog renewed his pipes. The Rail arc, partially 

 at least, nocturnal. During such moonlight nights as these they are 

 on the alert, patrolling the marshes through the countless covered 

 ways among the reeds, stopping to cry ' all's w^ell ' as they pass on, 

 or to answer the challenge of a distant watchman. That they feed 

 by night as Avell as by day, cannot be doubted. Their habit of 

 skulking and hiding in the almost inaccessible places they frequent 

 renders them difficult of observation, and they are usually considered 

 rarer than they really are."* 



223. Porzana Carolina (Liune) Cabanis. Carolina Rail ; Sora. 



An abundant summer resident. Large numbers are killed each year 

 for the market. Have seen them as late as October (1874). Found 

 both in fresh and salt-w^ater marshes where there is an abimdant 

 growth of " Bullrushes," " Cat tails" and the like. Linsley says of 

 it : " The Carolina IJail was so al)undant hei-e [Stratford, Conn.] last 

 Autumn, in the marshes of the Housatonic, that something like hun- 

 dreds were killed in a few hours, and that too for several days 

 together. They were esteemed a great delicacy. "f Ivegarding the 

 difficulty of seeing them in their favorite haunts, Mr. Maynard 

 writes : " I have been in a swamp where there were literally thou- 

 sands of theiu, yet was unable to start more than two or three !"J 

 I have had many similar experiences. One will suffice: Well 

 do I remember finding a Rail's nest in a marshy swail near the 

 mouth of a small caiion at the foot of the Wahsatch Range, just back 

 of Ogden, Utah. It was early in June, and the nest, which was 

 large and bulky, being com])osed of coarse marsh grass, was hidden 

 in a clump of flags, whose ai'ching blades met overhead, so conceal- 

 ing the enclosed treasures that they could only be seen by stooping 

 over and ))eering through a small o]»ening in the side, left for the 

 passage of the parent bird. As yet but two eggs had been deposited, 

 and the bird stole so silently and ([uickly through the reeds that I 

 hardly felt sure it was not a snake till careful search revealed the 

 nest. The next thing to be done was to secure the old bird, and 

 with this end in view the place was visited at least once each day 



* Coues, Birds of the Northwest, pp. 537-8, 1874. 



f Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 267, April, 1843. 



X Maynard's Naturalists' Guide, pp. 145-40, 1873. 



