THE SORA RAIL. 



(Porzana Carolina) 



This is probably the best known of our 

 water birds and at times the most abund- 

 ant, particularly in the Eastern States 

 during- the fall migration when they con- 

 gregate on the marshes in immense num- 

 bers. In the early mornings and even- 

 ings they may be readily flushed, but 

 during the day they lie close and may 

 often be picked up by hand or brought to 

 one by the dog. In past years I have no 

 doubt that the "Calumet Region" in 

 northern Illinois and the "Kankakee Re- 

 gion" in Indiana were the largest breed- 

 ing ground of this bird in the United 

 States. In Illinois, they arrive about the 

 last of April. They seem to be rather 

 erratic in their movements, but when they 

 come it is in immense numbers. It has 

 been a great pleasure to me to visit and 

 study this gentle and unobtrusive little 

 bird. This can be done to the best 

 advantage when the spring has been a 

 rather late and wet one and the grass not 

 too high. Find a spot where the marsh 

 runs well into the underbrush and where 

 the water is only a few inches deep; 

 wading through this, just after daylight, 

 and moving very slowly, you are sure to 

 see the Sora making its way daintily 

 along the floating debris, raising its long 

 legs and still longer toes higher than 

 seems necessary, at each step and with 

 great deliberation, picking here and there 

 at some choice morsel and almost contin- 

 ually flirting its tail forwards. If you are 

 seen by the bird, and are reasonably 

 quiet, he will survey you with his snap- 

 ping black eyes and continue to feed : 

 after surveying one spot he will slide into 

 the water and make for the reeds or 

 another floating mass. 



Later on, in May, according to the 

 height of the grass or condition of the 

 weather, the Rail builds its cup-shaped 

 nest on the border of the sloughs, some- 

 times a short distance from the water and 

 at other times on a small tussock in the 



water. In some cases there is very little 

 attempt at building up the nest and 

 scarcely any at concealment beyond the 

 height and thickness of the grass ; but 

 the rule is, to make an elaborate nest and 

 weave the grasses overhead. The eggs 

 vary from six to twelve in number and 

 are of a yellowish drab ground color, 

 with markings of purplish gray and 

 brown. 



The Rev. J. H. Langille gives the note 

 as queep, eep, ip, ip, ip, ip s ip, ip, or 

 qiiaite, quaite, peep, peep, kuk-kuk, kuk, 

 the first two or three syllables in long 

 drawn coaxing tones, and the remaining 

 syllables shorter and more hurried. 



In the earlier part of the present cen- 

 tury, before the subject of bird migra- 

 tion had received a great deal of investi- 

 gation, the Sora Rail was the object of 

 absurd superstition, of which Wilson in 

 his "American Ornithology" gives an 

 interesting account as follows : 



"The natural history of the Rail, or, 

 as it is called in Virginia, the Sora, and 

 in South Carolina the Coot, is, to the 

 most of our sportsmen, involved in pro- 

 found and inexplicable mystery. It 

 comes they know not whence; and goes 

 they know not where. No one can detect 

 their first moment of arrival ; yet all at 

 once the reedy shores and grassy marshes 

 of our large rivers swarm with them, 

 thousands being sometimes found within 

 the space of a few acres ; these when they 

 venture on wing, seem to fly so feebly, 

 and in such short fluttering flights among 

 the reeds, as to render it highly improb- 

 able to most people that they could pos- 

 sibly make their way over an extensive 

 tract of country, yet, on the first smart 

 frost that occurs, the whole suddenly dis- 

 appear, as if they had never been. 



"To account for these extraordinary 

 phenomena, it has been supposed by some 

 that they bury themselves in the mud ; 

 but as this is every year dug into by 



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