Development and Behavior of Captive Rails 



DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG 

 First-day chick 



The newly hatched King Rail is very weak and wet. Contrary to 

 the statements of Audubon (1835, p. 28) and Howell (1932, p. 203), 

 it is unable to run about and follow its parents as soon as it is hatched. 

 Sometimes it emerges from the shell on its back and lies kicking and 

 struggling for some minutes before righting itself. A nest mate may 

 grab its toes or beak and so stimulate further activity. Most of the 

 chicks I have observ^ed were more than an hour old before they were 

 able to go over the side of the nest and return. Chicks 15-20 minutes 

 old had considerable difficulty when we placed them in weeds and 

 water outside their nest, and they could not get back into the nest 

 under their own power. 



As the down dries out, the young bird moves more actively about 

 the nest, the undeveloped wings assisting in this effort. As the rail 

 chick begins to gain strength, it sits on its tarsi and assumes a begging 

 display, with wings extended for balance. 



The period of fluffing-out often takes half an hour or longer. It 

 took 4/2 hours for one of the chicks I observed. The fluffing-out proc- 

 ess may be necessary to produce buoyancy needed to enter the water 

 safely, as Gullion (1954, p. 389) suggests for the Coot {Fulica 

 americana) . 



Chicks took food from their parents' beaks the first day, but I did 

 not see them picking up food from the ground until the second day. 



The day-old chick has at least two calls : a loud begging call, chee- 

 up; and a soft lower-pitched call of contentment, icee and loee-up. 



The day-old chick is covered with black down that has a faint 

 greenish sheen or cast except in areas where it is most, dense. The down 

 is very dense on the abdomen and sparse on the crown. The bill has 

 a pied pattern ; the basal half of the bill is grayish black, the narial 

 region is white, the distal portion is flesh-colored, and the egg tooth, 

 retained at the tip for 4-6 days after hatching is white. The legs and 

 feet are brownish gi^ay although, at a quick glance, they appear to 

 be black. Eyes are grayish brown. A vestigial claw is present on each 

 wing. 



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