THE BLACK RAIL 239 
fate by being shot almost off the dog’s nose as 
he drove it up from the ground. 
In form and habits the Yellow Rail is very 
similar to the sora, but he dwells in the drier 
levels of the marsh and in the meadow lands, 
where the shorter grasses offer less impediment 
to his feebler powers. His food is principally 
of seeds, and his flesh (what there is of it) is 
equally as good as that of the sora. 
THE BLACK RAIL. 
(Porzana jamaicensis.) 
Of all the feathered dwellers in or visitors to 
New England this is the rarest. There are 
very few records of its capture in our borders. 
In fact, few are taken anywhere in the United 
States, though it may be more common than is 
generally supposed, since, because of its small 
size and retiring disposition it might easily be 
overlooked. Its range lies mostly to the south- 
ward of the United States. The bird is more 
common in the West Indies, Central and South 
America, where it visits as far south as Chile. 
In length this little fellow is from five and 
one-half to six inches; in extent about nine and 
