442 THE KING RAIL. 



are illustrative of the mental development of Bob-white, the old broken wing 

 ruse, the pitiful cry, the plain invitation to kill the old bird and be satisfied, 

 and very rarely, the daring attack upon the intruder. Meanwhile, the young 

 have reached a place of safety, or are hidden securely. There is much to 

 admire in Bob-white, and very little to excuse. 



No. 197, 



KING RAIL. 



A. O. U. No. 208. Rallus elegans Aud. 



Synonyms. — Rbd-breastbd Raii.; Marsh Hen; Frssh-water Marsh Hen. 



Description. — Adult : Above brownish black, the feathers broadly striped 

 laterally with lighter browns (wood-brown, bistre, and olive-brown), and shad- 

 ing into burnt umber on wing-coverts and edges of quills ; forehead with numer- 

 ous, enlarged, glossy, black shafts without attendant vanes ; a light line over eye 

 in front, and a dusky line through eye ; lower eye-lid white ; chin and upper throat 

 white; lower throat and breast, reaching up well on sides of neck and face, cin- 

 namon-rufous (Mars brown), growing paler medially and posteriorly; belly, 

 flanks, and lining of wings brownish dusky or blackish, crossed by narrow, white 

 bars, lighter, or sometimes almost unmarked fulvous, centrally and on thighs ; 

 bill dark above, lighter below. Downy young: Uniform glossy black. Length 

 14.00-17.00 (355.6-431.8); av. of six Columbus specimens: wing 6.25 (158.8); 

 tail 2.57 (65.3) ; bill 2.32 (58.9) ; tarsus 2.26 (57.4) ; middle toe and claw 2.47 

 (52.7)- 



Recognition Marks. — Little Hawk to Crow size; marsh-creeping habits. 

 Large size distinctive among the Rails of the interior. 



Nest, of cat-tail leaves and grasses on the ground or in grass-tussock of 

 marsh. Eggs, 6-12, dull white or huffy, sparingly spptted and dotted with red- 

 dish brown and purplish gray. Av. size, 1.65 x 1.21 (41.9 x 30.8). 



General Range. — Fresh water marshes of eastern United States, north to 

 the Middle States, northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kansas; casually ( ?) to Mass- 

 achusetts, Maine, and Ontario. 



Range in Ohio. — Not common summer resident and migrant. Of local 

 occurrence. 



RUSHES, sedges, arums, and waving cat-tail leaves form a curtain of 

 living green which effectually screens the private life of the Rails from the 

 common eye. From behind the curtain issue certain sounds which we attri- 

 bute to this bird or that, if we are wise,- but that is all. Now and then, 

 indeed, some ruthless invader dashes behind the decent folds and sends the 

 Rail-folk scurrying. This, to say the least, is rude, and brings its own pun- 

 ishment. — an empty ' swamp, or maybe a few limp carcases ; but what are 

 they? No; if you would learn Rail ways, you must do as Rails do, — pry 

 and spy, lurk and peep, and above all, when the time comes, keep silent. To 

 thread the mazes of the swamp, to know its mysteries, to be on intimate terms 



