DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
The size of the eggs under consideration is sufficient to distinguished them from the eggs of the 
other summer-residents of the family, and their size and markings together make a combination so 
distinctive that there is no difficulty in identifying them, although thrown among eggs of every other 
summer-resident species of the State. 
REMARKS : 
The three eggs illustrated. Fig. 7, Plate LXIY, show the common sizes and the extremes in coloring 
of the eggs of the Red-breasted Rail, or King Rail. The egg at the left is by far the commonest in size, 
shape, ground-color, and marking. The one at the right the next most frequent type, while the middle 
egg represents an unusually highly colored specimen. 
The King Rail is frequently mistaken for the Clapper Rail. The latter species is exclusively a salt 
water bird, and probably has never been seen, if it has ever occurred in Ohio. Of the two, the King Rail 
is a little the larger and a little brighter colored in plumage, but these differences are so slight that it is 
not to be wondered at that those persons ambitious to find something new should occasionally encounter 
the salt water species. I have observed very little difference in the habits of this Rail from those of 
the more diminutive species. It inhabits the same swamps, feeds upon the same kind of food, and is 
as difficult to make fly, though easier to shoot when once on the wing, on account of its larger size. Its 
flesh is especially delicate, in this respect excelling all others of the family. The fii’st of these birds I 
ever saw my dog brought me, he having captured it in the tall grass bordering a small pond. It was a 
young bird, certainly not sufficiently feathered to fly. Since then I have killed a good many, and several 
times have found half-grown young following their parents. A few years since, while standing in mud and 
water hip-deep, waiting for Wood Ducks to come into a small pond to roost, I had an opportunity of 
observing a Red-breasted Rail feeding and playing in its natural home. I was first attracted by the 
bird swimming toward me from a bunch of rushes; it sat upon the water like a Duck and leisurely 
propelled itself along, occasionally picking at something upon or beneath the surface. Considering the 
anatomy of its feet I was surprised how swiftly at times it could swim. Having approached within ten 
feet of me, it walked onto some submerged rubbish and began pluming itself, After this act was 
satisfactorily performed, during which time it repeatedly stretched its wings and long legs, it climbed 
among the roots of some aquatic bushes and rested, until the report of my gun frightened it away. 
278 
