VIRGINIA RAIL— SONG SPARROW. 



slow, and with the legs hanging down ; they become extremely- 

 fat, and fond of concealment, and usually prefer running to flying. 

 Most of them are migratory and abound during the summer in 

 certain countries, the inhabitants of which have very rarely an 

 opportunity of seeing them. 



The Rail usually builds his nest in a tussock of grass ; the nest 

 is formed of a little dry grass. The female lays from four to six 

 eggs of a dirty whitish color with brown or blackish spots ; the 

 young ones run off as soon as they are hatched : they are covered 

 with a perfectly black down, and run about among the grass like 

 mice. 



The Rails arrive at Hudson's Bay, and other northern parts, 

 early in June, breed there, and leave again for the south early in 

 autumn. But it is certain that some of them remain with us, as 

 I have caught young Rails myself in the latter part of the month 

 of June on the Connecticut river, just a little above the town of 

 Wethersfield, in a swampy or reedy place, called there the Weth- 

 ersfield Cove. I have also been informed, by persons of credit 

 and intelligence, in several places of the Union, that they had 

 found nests, as well as young Rails ; but what is singular, none of 

 them had ever seen at that time the old ones. The Rails, as well 

 as the Bobolinks, are very fond of the seeds of two different kinds of 

 reeds, which grow up from the soft muddy shores of the tide water, 

 and are alternately dry and then covered again with four or five 

 feet of water. They rise with an erect, tapering stem to the height 

 of six or eight feet. They grow up so close together that a boat 

 can only with difficulty make its way through them at or near the 

 time of high water. The seeds are produced at the top of the 

 plant, the blossoms occupying the lower branches of the panicle 

 and the seeds the higher. 



These seeds are nearly as long as an ordinary pin and very 

 slender, white, and sweet to the taste ; also very nutritious, as ap- 

 pears by the effect they have on the various birds that at this time 

 feed on them. When the reeds are in this state, the Rails take 

 possession of them in great numbers. At this season, as you 

 walk along the embankment of a river where these reeds grow, 

 you can hear the Rails squeak in every direction like young pup- 

 pies. If a stone be thrown among them, there is a general outcry 

 and a reiterated "keek, keek, keek," somewhat like that of a 

 Guinea fowl ; any other sudden noise, as the discharge of a gun, 

 produces the same effect. In the meantime none are to be seen, 

 unless it be at or near high water ; for when the tide is low, they 

 universally secrete themselves among the interstices of the reeds, 

 and you may walk past or even over them — where there are hun- 

 dreds — without seeing a single one. On their arrival they are 

 generally lean and unfit for the table, but as the seeds of the reeds 

 ripen, they fatten rapidly, and from about the middle of September 

 to the middle of October, are excellent and eagerly sought for. 

 Their flight among these reeds is usually low, and shelter being 

 abundant, it is rarely extended to more than from ten to fifty yards. 

 When winged and uninjured in their legs, they swim and dive 

 with great rapidity, and are seldom seen to rise again. 



I have found them several times, on such occasions, under the 

 water, clinging with their feet to the reeds. They are very feeble 

 and delicate in every part, except the legs, which seem to possess 

 great strength ; their bodies being remarkably thin and com- 

 pressed, measuring not more than an inch and a quarter through 

 transversely, they are enabled to pass between the reeds like rats. 

 When seen, they are almost constantly jetting up the tail. Flut- 

 tering as their flight appears in the reeds, I have seen them at 

 other times rise to a considerable height, stretching their feet be- 

 hind them and flying to such distances that I really lost sight of 

 them. In the State of New Jersey, where this particular kind of 

 reed does not grow, we find no Rails. Most of them leave the 

 Middle States before the end of October, and the Southern States 

 early in November, though some are found lingering in the warm 

 southern marshes the whole winter. Numbers of them have been 

 found in the West Indies at the time of our winter season, which 



makes it evident that they migrate across that part of the sea be- 

 tween the mainland and the islands ; and why should this be im- 

 possible ? As the Rail can swim and dive well and fly at pleasure, 

 he seems to me well fitted for such an undertaking. 



The young Rails, the first season, resemble the females. 



Some modern ornithologists have classed this bird under the 

 genus Gallinulae ; but this seems to me altogether wrong, as all 

 Rails are destitute of a frontal plate, which characterizes the Gal- 

 linulae ; they otherwise have certainly a strong resemblance to 

 them. 



The Virginia Rail. (Rallus virginianus^) 

 Fig- 3- 



This elegant little bird is far less numerous in this part of the 

 United States than the preceding, but inhabits more remote north- 

 ern regions. He is frequently seen along the borders of our salt 

 marshes, which are rarely visited by the Sora ; he breeds there as 

 well as among the meadows that border our large rivers. He is 

 met with in the interior, as far west as the Ohio river ; also in Ken- 

 tucky in the groves and wet places, but only in the spring. He 

 feeds less on vegetable and more on animal food than the com- 

 mon Rail. The food of this species consists chiefly of small snail 

 shells, worms, and the larvae of insects that it extracts from the 

 mud with its long bill, which is wonderfully adapted to it. On 

 this account its flesh is much inferior to the former ; otherwise, 

 its habits, its thin compressed body, its aversion to take to the 

 wing, and the dexterity with which it runs and conceals itself 

 among the grass, are exactly similar to those of the common 

 Rail, from which genus, notwithstanding the difference of its bill, 

 it ought not to be separated. 



Some people call this bird the Fresh Water Mud Hen. The 

 epithet " fresh water" is given to it because of its frequenting only 

 those parts of the marsh where fresh water springs rise through 

 the bogs into the salt marshes. In such places it usually con- 

 structs its nest, which is composed altogether of old dry grass and 

 rushes. The female lays from six to ten eggs of a dirty white or 

 cream color, sprinkled with specks of reddish and pale purple, 

 most numerous near the greater end. The}' commence laying 

 early in May, and probably raise two broods in the season. The 

 young of this species are also covered with a pure black down, 

 and have a white spot on their bill, and a soft and piping note. 

 The female is about half an inch shorter than the male, the color 

 of the breast is paler, and a little more white on the throat and 

 chin. 



These birds, like the preceding, stand and run with the tail 

 erect, which they frequently jerk upward ; they also fly exactly 

 like them, with the legs hanging down, but only a short distance, 

 and the moment they alight run off with great speed. 



The Song Sparrow. (Melospiza melodia.) 



Fig. 4, Male. Fig. 5, Female. 



The Song Sparrow may be found in all parts of the United 

 States ; he is the earliest, sweetest, and most lasting singer of all 

 the Sparrows. We may call them partially migratory, for the most 

 of them pass to the south in the month of November ; but many 

 remain with us all winter, in the low sheltered meadows and 

 swamps. He is the first singing-bird in spring, taking precedence 

 of the Peewee and Bluebird. His song, resembling the beginning 

 of the Canary's song, or perhaps rather the song of the European 

 Yellow Hammer (Emberiza Citrinella), is very short but exceed- 

 ingly sweet, and frequently repeated, generally from the branches 

 of a bush or small tree, where he sits, chanting for an hour at a 

 time. He is very fond of frequenting the borders of rivers, mead- 

 ows, swamps, and other like watery places. He is found, with a 

 multitude of other kinds of Sparrows, in the great Cypress swamps 



