32 



RAIL 



parts occupying the lower branches of the panicle, and the seeds 

 the higher. These seeds are nearly as long as a common sized 

 pin, somewhat more slender, white, sweet to the taste, and very 

 nutritive, as appears by their effects on the various birds that, at 

 this season, feed on them. 



When the reeds are in this state, and even while in blossom, the 

 Rail are found to have taken possession of them in great numbers. 

 These are generally numerous in proportion to the full and pro- 

 mising crop of the former. As you walk along the embankment 

 of the river at this season, you hear them squeaking in every di- 

 rection like young puppies ; if a stone be thrown among the reeds 

 there is a general outcry, and a reiterated huk kuk kuk^ something 

 like that of a guinea fowl. Any sudden noise, or the discharge of 

 a gun, produces the same effect. In the meantime none are to be 

 seen, unless it be at or near high water; for when the tide is low 

 they universally secrete themselves among the interstices of the 

 reeds, and you may walk past and even over them, where there 

 are hundreds, without seeing a single individual. On their first 

 arrival they are generally lean, and unfit for the table ; but as the 

 reeds ripen they rapidly fatten, and from the twentieth of Septem- 

 ber to the middle of October are excellent, and eagerly sought 

 after. The usual method of shooting them, in this quarter of the 

 country, is as follows. The sportsman furnishes himself with a 

 light batteau, and a stout experienced boatman, with a pole of 

 twelve or fifteen feet long, thickened at the lower end to prevent 

 it from sinking too deep into the mud. About two hours or so be- 

 fore high water they enter the reeds, and each takes his post, the 

 sportsman standing in the bow ready for action, the boatman on 

 the stern seat pushing her steadily through the reeds. The Rail 

 generally spring singly, as the boat advances, and at a short dis- 

 tance a-head, are instantly shot down, while the boatman, keeping 

 his eye on the spot where the bird fell, directs the boat forward 

 and picks it up as the gunner is loading. It is also the boatman's 



