( 251 ) 

 THE SORA RAIL. 



RjLLUS CAROLINUS,!^!^^. 

 PLATE CCXXXIII. Male, Female, and Young. 



Not many years have elapsed since it was supposed by some of the 

 inhabitants of those districts to which thousands of this species of Rail 

 resort at particular periods, that the Soras buried themselves in the mud 

 at the approach of cold weather, for the purpose of there spending the 

 winter in a state of torpidity. Many wonderful tales were circulated to 

 convince the world of the truth of this alleged phenomenon ; but the fact 

 was, as you will naturally anticipate, that the birds merely shifted their 

 quarters, as no doubt they will continue to do, so long as the climate be- 

 comes too cold for them in winter. Prior to the days of Wilson, very 

 little indeed had been published respecting the habits of our birds. Su- 

 perstitious notions and absurd fancies occupied the place of accurate 

 knowledge in the minds of people too earnestly engaged in more import- 

 ant pursuits, to attend to the history of the animals around them ; and 

 with respect to the Sora in particular, I have no doubt that the settlers 

 in our original forests cared very little about them, farther than that, 

 when well cooked, they afforded a very savoury dish. Now, however, 

 the case is very different. Many of the enterprising and industrious sons 

 of Columbia have attained affluence and ease, and their children receive 

 a liberal education. The sciences and arts, those attendants on peaceful 

 commerce, are now sources of pleasure to many of our citizens, and at the 

 present day there are not a few individuals among us, devotedly engaged 

 in the pursuit of zoology in all its branches. So rapid has been the pro- 

 gress of ornithology in particular, that I should hesitate before asserting 

 that any American, however uncultured, now believes that Rails burrow 

 in the mud. 



Those who have studied the habits of our birds, or of those of any part 



I of the world, no longer admit that Swallows are condemned to search for 

 warmth under the ice ; for we have proofs that these birds can with ease ob- 

 tain aU that is necessary for their comfortable subsistence, by removing on 

 wing to a warmer region. The Soras and many other species of birds are 

 similar in this respect to the Swallows. The Vulture that was supposed 

 i 



