KAILS, OALLINULKS, AND COOTS. 



143 



214. Ponana Carolina (L 



2t», c.) Ad. IJ.iriMiMil" 



///».). SoRA ; Takomna T?Air.. (See Fiff. 

 lilt tlic I'iiM' lit" tlu' li'ill, I'fiitrr nt' crowTi, and ii lino 



ilowii tlie iiiidiUo of till- iici'k l)lai'k ; rc.-*t of tin- lircast and tliroat, nides of 

 the licail, and tVont jiart (•!' tlic crown palo tilui-Lrfay ; rest of tlie upper parts 

 olive-hrown, most ot' the featliiTs with hiack eeiiters, the scapulars and hack 

 Htreukeil on eitiier side with white; wind's fuscmis-hrown, their coverts jrray- 

 ish elnnaiiion, outer edi.'e ot tirst primary white; lower heily white, flanks 

 hurred witii hlaek and white. //«.- Similar, hut without hhick at tiie base 

 of the hill or on the throat; l)reast washed with einnaiiion and upper parts 

 darker. L., H-nO; W., 4-30; Tar., MiO; H., -so. 



h'aiuje. — Breeds from Kansas, Illinois, and Lonj/ Island northward to 

 Hudson May; winters from Soutii Carolina to northern South .America. 



\Vashin;fton, common T. V., Mch. ; duly to Nov. I.onjr Island, eoiii- 

 nion T. v., Apl. and .May; .\u;:. to Oct.; rare S. R. Sim,' Sinj.', common 

 T. v., .May; Auj,'. H» to Oct. ',i-4. Canil)ridge, very common S. K., Apl. 20 to 

 Oct. L'O. 



Mid, of frrasses, on tlie jrround in niarslies. fjjijn, eii.dit to fifteen, hutVy 

 wliitc or oehrueeous-hntl', spotted and spei'kled with rufous-iirown, I'li-f x -'JO. 



The Soras' suniiner home is in fresh-water mar.shcs, whore, if it 

 were not for their notes, the reeds and grasses woidd long keep the 

 secret of their presence. But knowing their calls, yon liave only to 

 pass a May or Jinio evening near a marsh to learn whether they in- 

 habit it. If there, they will greet you late in the afternoon with a 

 clear whistled h-r-ivec, which soon comes from dozens of invisible 

 birds about you, and long after night has fallen it continues like a 

 springtime chorus of piping hylas. Now and again it is interrupted 

 by a high-voiced, rolling w/iinni/ which, like a call of alarm, is taken 

 up and repeated by different birds all over the marsh. 



They seem so absorbed by their musical devotions that even when 

 calling continuously it requires endless patience and keen eyes to see 

 the dull-colored, motionless forms in places where one would not sup- 

 pose there was sullicicnt growth to conceal them. 



Floating silently near the shore on my back in a canoe, I have seen 

 them venture out to feed. With tails erect they step gingerly along, 

 evidently aware of their expo.sed position, for on the least alarm they 

 dart back to cover. Sometimes they cross snudl streams by swim- 

 ming, and they are expert divers. 



In the fall they gather in the wild-rice or wild-oat (Ziziinin aquat- 

 mO marshes, and a well-directed stone or uinisual noise nuiy biing a 

 series of protesting interrogative kukx or pfcp.^ from the apparently 

 deserted reeds. At this season "gunners" in small flat-bottomed 

 boats are poled through the flooded meadows, and the Soras, waiting 

 until the last moment, rise on feeble wing — a nuirk which few can 

 miss. Numerous [)uffs of snu)ke float over the tall grasses, and the 

 dull reports come booming across the nuirsh with fateful frequency. 



II 



