490 REPORT OF THE 



to bring to the notice of the world a new American rail, and his biography of the 

 bird has formed the basis, and sometimes a pretty large one, of many of the subse- 

 quent accounts of the species. 



Save under what may legitimately be considered exceptional circumstances this 

 bird is confined to fresh-water haunts, being thus, in habitat, entirely complementary 

 to its near relative, the Clapper Rail. Generally speaking, and computed in terms of 

 the Sora, it is not an abundant species, though in favorable places is locally very 

 common, this being perhaps more frequently the case in the Southern States. The 

 wide-extending swampy tangles of briars and weeds, so characteristic of many low- 

 lands of the interior, offer particularly acceptable shelter, since here it is quite as 

 safe from the hunter with his gun as in any place that could be chosen, although still 

 exposed to the attacks of its furred and feathered enemies, for snakes and minks 

 and skunks and wild cats are connoisseurs in flesh-diet, rarely losing an oppor- 

 tunity to dine upon rail, while the Great Horned Owl is equally aware of its fine 

 flavor. The King Rail is so fond of the morass that it ventures but seldom into 

 open ground or into the corn fields; and when its favorite haunts become dry, it 

 seeks abode elsewhere. 



In common with other rails the present one has the eminently developed faculty 

 of keeping concealed by skulking rapidly through the grass whenever alarmed, 

 apparently realizing that its greatest safety lies within a short distance of the 

 ground. It swims readily, and on occasion dives with no little facility. Its flight is 

 usually short and awkward, and particularly when the bird has been startled is 

 performed with short, rapid wing-beats. The food of this species consists of crusta- 

 ceans, small fish, worms, insects, tadpoles and other animals of similar kind, together 

 with seeds of various plants that grow in the swamps and marshes. 



The breeding season seems to be at its height in April or May, according to 

 locality, and the nest may be found in the bird's chosen haunts, placed on the 

 ground among the grass. It is quite a bulky affair of weeds and grasses built up 

 from its base often to the height of six or eight inches, and sometimes partly over- 

 arched. It is reported to be repaired from time to time, and even sometimes to be 

 occupied for several successive seasons. The six to twelve eggs are of a dull creamy 

 white with scattered markings of brown and lilac. The young when they first 

 emerge from the shell are coal black balls of fluffy doAvn — -a quaint and curious, not 

 to say extremely interesting family, too, as they are led forth by their mother to 

 learn their first lessons in this bad world. And with very little exercise of the 

 imagination, one may fancy that thenceforth, until they are fully able to shift for 

 themselves, their devoted parent has many a moment of anxiety for their safety. 



