True Rails 



321 



bodies permitting them to thread their way among the closest reeds and rushes 

 with astonishing rapidity. While not exactly gregarious, community of tastes and 

 wants brings them together in the marshes, often in immense numbers. The Gal- 

 linules are more frequently seen along the borders of the marshes, while the Coots 

 frequent the water much after the manner of Ducks, and incline to go in flocks. 



This family embraces about fifty genera and one hundred and eighty species, 

 and is widely distributed throughout the globe, being, however, most abundant 

 in the tropics, North America having only about fifteen forms. It is clearly a 

 family of ancient origin, since numerous fossil species are known, the oldest being 

 from the upper Eocene beds of France. The family is sometimes divided into three 

 subfamilies, the first of which embraces the Rails proper, while in the others are 

 included the Gallinules and Coots respectively. As it will be impossible in the 

 space at command to describe them all, a few of the typical forms may be selected 

 from each group. 



True Rails. The true Rails may be typified by the genus Rallus, which, 

 according to Sharpe, includes some twenty-one forms, all but five of which are 

 natives of the New World. These differ from their nearest relatives in having 

 the slender bill as long as or longer than the tarsus. They are all very similar in 

 their habits, and frequently in appearance as well. One of our best-known and 

 most widely distributed species is the Virginia Rail (R. mrginian-us), which is 

 found throughout the whole of temperate North America, passing as far north 

 as British Columbia and Hudson's Bay, and wintering from the southern part 

 of its summer range to Guatemala. It is about nine and one-half inches long, 

 olive brownish above, broadly striped with blackish, with the wings and tail dark 

 grayish brown, and the wing-coverts deep rusty, while the throat is white and 

 the under parts cinnamon-rufous, barred or spotted on the flanks, and 

 under tail-coverts with black and white. The Virginia Rail prefers very wet 

 marshes, where it can wade rather than swim, although it can both swim and 

 dive if forced by circumstances to do so. It is a very secretive bird and its 

 presence might be almost unsuspected if it were not especially looked for, and 

 like other members of its group it can hardly be forced to take wing. In spring 

 it has a peculiar grunting note that has been likened to the sounds produced by 

 a hungry pig, and at night or during very cloudy days the male utters an often- 

 repeated guttural note that Mr. Brewster describes as cut, cutta-cutta-cutta. 

 This "when heard at a distance of only a few yards has a vibrating, almost un- 

 earthly quality, and seems to issue from the ground directly beneath one's feet." 

 The food of this species consists of aquatic insects, snails, worms, and various 

 seeds. The nest is placed on the ground in marshes, generally in a tussock of 

 grass, and is a rather neat affair of grasses. The eggs are from six to twelve in 

 number, and have a creamy white ground over which is spread spots and speckles 

 of rufous-brown. The King Rail (R. elegans} is what may be called a larger 

 edition of the Virginia Rail, resembling it quite closely in all but size, being from 

 seventeen to nineteen inches in length. It is, however, generally much lighter 

 above, and has the wings and tail olive-gray, the neck and breast cinnamon- 

 rufous, and the abdomen and sides rufous, barred with white. It frequents the 



