RAIL-SHOOTING. 337 



fried potatoes, thin and crisp as a new bank note. 

 It may be preceded by the piece de resistance, and 

 should be followed only by salad, which may in fiict 

 be eaten with it, if dressed with sufficient purity. 



Kill your rail handsonaely in the field, missing not 

 more than one in twenty, present him properly and 

 with due appreciation on the table, and eat him with 

 the gratitude that he deserves. 



It is only of late years that many rail were killed 

 at the South. The old-time battue of the negroes 

 at night-time, with paddles and torches, did not 

 amount to much, but now hundreds are killed daily 

 through the season in the rivers below Washington, 

 although the weather is usuallyso hot that half of 

 them spoil. In those extensive marshes, two hun- 

 dred to a gun is a moderate day's bag. Still the 

 numbers of this excellent little bird have not sen- 

 sibly diminished, and good sport is had every year 

 on the Connecticut and the Delaware. 



