232 SORA RAIL. 



to scent his food from afar, has well nigh lost his olfactory powers. 

 Geese are no longer the offspring of sea-shells ; nor do Swans now chaunt 

 their own requiem. The Pelican, too, has ceased to tear its own breast 

 to goro-e its voracious young. Students of nature have gradually recti- 

 fied the various errors into which our ancestors had fallen ; and we should 

 now just as readily expect to see a shoal of fishes issuing from beneath 

 the plough, as to see a flock of Rails emerge from the mud, shake them- 

 selves, and fly off". This subject, then, being disposed of, I have now to 

 relate to you the result of my observations on the habits of the Sora. 



This bird, which I think might have been named the Pennsylvanian 

 or Virginian Rail, enters the Union from the shores of Mexico, early in 

 March, when many are to be seen in the markets of New Orleans. Some 

 reach their northern destination by ascending along the margins of our 

 western streams, or by crossing the country directly, in the manner of the 

 Woodcock ; while those which proceed along the coast shorten their jour- 

 ney as much as possible by flying across the headlands of the numerous 

 inlets or bays of our southern districts, retiring or advancing more slowly 

 according to the state of the weather. Thus, those which cross the pen- 

 insula of Florida, through the marshes and lagoons that lead to the head 

 waters of the St John's River, instead of travelling round the shores of 

 Georgia and South Carolina, fly directly across towards Cape Lookout. 

 It it nevertheless true, that a certain number of these birds follow the si- 

 nuosities of the shores, for I found some in the markets of Charleston, in 

 the month of April, that had been killed in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of that city, and I obtained others in various parts ; but the number of 

 these is very small compared with that of those which cross at once. 

 When their passage takes place, either during calm weather or with a 

 favourable wind, the fortunate travellers pursue their journey by entering 

 Pimlico Sound, and following the inner margins of the outward banks of 

 this part of the coast until they reach Cape Henry. From thence some 

 ascend the Chesapeake, while others make for the mouth of the Delaware, 

 and these perhaps again meet on the borders of Lake Ontario, or the wa- 

 ters of the St Lawrence, after which they soon enter those portions of the 

 country in which they breed, and spend a short but agreeable season. 



Every person acquainted with the general movements of birds either 

 during spring, when they pass northwards, or the autumnal months, when 

 they are on their way to milder climes, is aware that, at the former period, 

 their anxiety to reach the place of breeding is much greater than that 



