54 THE BIRDS 
FAMILY RALLIDAZ.—RAILS, GALLINULES, 
AND COOTS. 
SUBFAMILY RALLIN/AZ.—RAILS. 
GENUS RALLUs. 
[208]. Rallus elegans (Audubon). King Rail. 
[Marsh Hen. King Sora]. 
Raner.—Eastern North America. Breeds from Ne- 
braska, southern Minnesota, Ontario, New York, and 
Connecticut south to Texas, Florida, and Cuba; winters 
mainly in the southern part of its breeding range; casual 
north to South Dakota and Maine. 
This handsome large rail is not a common breeding 
bird over Tidewater Virginia, though I have taken two 
sets of eges each year for the last two seasons, from a 
pair of birds breeding in one of my ponds on my place in 
Warwick County. This is the only positive record I have 
of their breeding within our area, though I see no reason 
why they should not be found in the marshes adjoining 
Back Bay, which is virtually fresh water. The birds 
breeding with me became quite tame, allowing me to 
approach within five feet of them when brooding eggs. 
The nests were placed in a thick bunch of swamp grass 
erowing in the pond, about two feet above the water. 
They were made of dry marsh grass, a slightly hollow 
platform well packed, and contained nine and eleven eggs 
respectively the first settings, and six and seven eggs the 
second. They did not move over twenty-five feet after 
