Rails, Gallinules, Coots 



noveboracensis), an even more skulking, timid species than the 

 sora, has a reputation for rarity that doubtless the blackbirds, 

 bobolinks, and marsh wrens, which alone can penetrate into the 

 mysteries of the sedges, would express differently were they able 

 to retail secrets. This small rail, that measures only seven inches 

 in length, has more wisdom than its larger kin, and refuses to be 

 flushed except in extreme cases, for the gunners to hit during its 

 feeble, fluttering flight. Dogs must be sent into the marshes 

 after the panic stricken birds running through aisles of grasses 

 until about to be overtaken, when they escape by rising from the 

 frying pan of the dogs' jaws only to fall into the fire of shot from 

 the rifles. Ordinarily they keep so closely concealed among the 

 grasses, that were it not for their croaking call, suggesting the 

 voice of the tree toad, no one would suspect their presence. All 

 rails are more or less nocturnal in their habits, and the yellow- 

 breasted species, more full of fears than any, rarely lifts up its 

 voice, that Nuttall described as an "abrupt and cackling cry 

 'kr'ek, 'krek, 'krek, krek, kuk, k 'uk," after daylight or before 

 sunset. The description of the sora's habits, which are almost 

 identical with this rail's, should be read to avoid repetition. In 

 plumage, however, these two birds are quite different, the 

 yellow-breasted rail having black upper parts streaked with 

 brownish yellow and marked with white bars, the buff of the 

 breast growing paler underneath, the dusky flanks barred with 

 white, and the under coverts varied with black, white, and rufous. 

 Its wing linings are white, but these the bird takes good care not 

 to show. 



The Little Black Rail, or Crake (Poi\ana jamaicensis), the 

 smallest of the family, exhibits all the family shyness and fear, 

 which, taken with its obscure coloration and its extreme unwill- 

 ingness to rise on the wing, keep it almost unknown, although 

 its range extends from Massachusetts, Illinois, and Oregon to 

 Louisiana, the West Indies, and Central America. As its name 

 implies, it is common in Jamaica. Mr. Marsh of that island writes 

 its call " chi-chi-cro-croo-croo, several times repeated in sharp high 

 notes so as to be audible to a considerable distance." Guided by 

 this call, one may count oneself rarely fortunate to discover the 

 little mouse-like bird that makes it, running swiftly in and out of 

 the sedges. Its head, breast, and under parts are slate color; its 



183 



