RALLin.K — THK UAIL8 - RALLUS. 



355 



Mr. Lewis states that it is well known ti) the Delaware Jtail-shooters as the '• Kin>,'- 

 Kiiil." It tie(iuents the fresh-water marshes of the interior, and feeds on the same 

 liM)d as the .Sora Kail, Itein^r often fouml in the sanu^ localities as that bird, lie met 

 witii it in greater almndanet^ farther sonth. and rarelv noticed it north of the Dela- 

 ware marshes. Its Hesh he rcganls as very similar to that of the Sora. Imt as not 

 lii'iiij; (jnite so delieate. thon,i,'h at times e(|nally juiey and tender. It is found in 

 Ire.di-water marshes oidy. iiceordiiig to ids experience, and was not met with on the 

 sra-lioard. It seems to have the same wild skulking habit of the Sora. iind its Hight 

 is sliort and labored ; when on<'e raiseil it is easily shot. When wounded it can liotii 

 suim and dive well, and conceals itsidf in the water among the reeds. .Mr. LewLs 

 siiot one in duly, on an iipland marsh in the nddst of a thick wood in .Maryland. 



Mr. .Vudulxin regarded it as being altt)getlier a fresh-water bird, and coidined to the 

 Southern .States; and in this first supposition he was undoul)tedly correct; for what 

 was supposed to be exceptional in the Pacific coast Kail is only evidence of the 

 ibstinetness of species; but he was in error in tidnking it exclusively southern. 



Tins bird is abundant ;dioui Ohicago. on Lake Koskonong, Wis., in .Minnesota, 

 ami in other Western States ; and we have no doulit that the Kail referred to by 

 Mr. .Mcllwnuth as breeding about Hamilton, Ciunida West, is this iiird. and not. as 

 lie supposed, the i-n/>!finis. I saw it ;dtnndant in the market at Cliieiigo about the 10th 

 III Ajiril in an unusually late season. .Mr. d. \. Allen met with it in Salt Lake Valley, 

 \vlier<' he fouml it very almndant. 



.Vudubon speaks of it as an excessividy .shy bird, running Avith ciderity. and when 

 caught crying like tlie Common Fowl. It resides throughout tin- year in the fresh- 

 water marshes in the interior of South (Carolina, (Jeorgia. Florida. Louisiana, and 

 Texas. The siiiue author was infornu'd that this bird is now and then obtiuned near 

 i'iiiladelphia, where it is consiih-red very rare, and is known as tic "King Kail." 



in .South Carolina, aecoi'ding to Dr. r>achman. although not so ntimcrous as other 

 species, it is not rare in iavoralde situations. AVherevcr tle-re are extensive marshes 

 liy tlie side of sluggi>'h . '^I'eims, this Kail maybe lound gliding swiftly among the 

 tangled rank griisses ;ind aquatic weeds, or standing on the broad leaves of the water- 

 lily; ;ind there, on some little island of the marsh, it builds its nest. Dr. I'.acdiman 

 states that he has found twenty pairs breeding within a s]iace having a diiimeter of 

 thirty yards. The nests were phiced on the ground and raised to the height of six 

 01 eight inches by means of witiiered WiM'ds and grasses, the numliei' of the eggs 

 licing nine or ten. He found a few with eggs aliout the middle of .March, liut the 

 greater number of these b'.rds begin to breed about tiie middle of .\)U'il. They 

 n pair their nests from tinw to time, and retuiii to them several years in succession. 

 Tiic young — which iire at t'rst covered with ji lilack down — leave the nest as .soon 

 lis they are hatched, and follow their parents along the borders of streams and pools, 

 where they feed on in.seets, seeds, tailpoles, leeches, and small craytisli. Dr. IJaeh- 

 iiian sevend tinu's attempted to domestieat<' this bird, but faih'd, probal»ly on aeeonnt 

 III being unable to olitain a suflicient (piantity of suitable food. When grown it feeds 

 oil a variety of sidistanees, including seeds iind other vegetidtle i)roduetions. In its 

 S^i/zard were found the seeds of griisses which grow in the places it freipients. On 

 one occasion its stomach was crammed with the seeds of the Arinnlo frrfn ; and that 

 III' another bird contained a (piantity of imts which had evidently been jiieked up on a 

 newly-sown field near the marsh. It is ii bird ditlicult to shoot, as it is not easily 

 raised, and In-eause it confines itself to swampy places, covered with smilax and other 

 hriers and thus rendccd inaeeessible. In seascms (d' greiit drought, when the marshes 

 hiioine dry, it has been known entirely to disappear fnmi the neighborhood, retiring 



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