BIRDS OP THE SHORE AND MARSHES 225 



sides of breast spotted with white; flanks barred 



slate and white; white underneath. Immature birds 



have brown breast, no black on head, and a white 



throat. 

 Range — Temperate North America; more abundant on the 



Atlantic than the Pacific Slope. Nests from Kansas, 



Illinois, and New York northward to Hudsons Bay; 



winters from our Southern states to West Indies and 



northern South America. 

 Season — Common summer resident at the north; winter 



resident south of North CaroHna; sometimes in sheltered 



marshes farther north. 



(See plate, page 211.) 



Where flocks of bobolinks (transformed by a heavy 

 moult into the streaked brown reed birds of the South) con- 

 gregate to feed upon the wild rice or oats in early autumn, 

 sportsmen bag the soras by tens of thousands annually, 

 both of these misnamed "ortolans" coming into market in 

 September and October, by which time the sora's pitifully 

 small, thin body has acquired the only fat it ever boasts. 

 "As thin as a rail" at every other season, however, is a 

 most significant expression to the cook who plucks a dozen 

 or more for a dinner party. Yet many people think it is a 

 fence rail that the adage refers to. Offering the epicure 

 even a smaller bite than a robin, they serve to add to a 

 banquet another course of culinary bric-a-brac in lieu of 

 nourishment. 



The sora may be heard wherever wild rice grows along 

 inland lakes and rivers or in other marshes along the 

 coast. Its sweetly whistled spring song her-wee, ker-wee, 

 and " rolling whinny " give place in autumn to the 'kuk, kuk 



