CAROLINA CRAKE. 
231 
The adult plumage is gained in the first winter, but the grey 
feathers of the neck still retain brownish margins. 
Characters.— The Carolina Crake differs from our Spotted 
Crake in having the fore part of the cheeks, lores, and centre 
of the throat, black ; the inner web of the innermost 
secondaries is like the rest of the quills, and is merely fringed 
with white. In P. porzana it is light fulvous brown. 
Range in Great Britain.— A single specimen of this North 
American species has been shot near Newbury in Berkshire; 
it was exhibited by Professor Newton to a meeting of the 
Zoological Society on the 14th of February, 1865. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The Carolina Crake is 
found in summer throughout temperate North America, and it 
winters in Central America, the West Indies, and the Northern 
provinces of South America. 
Hahits.— Dr. Brewer publishes the following interesUng 
note * on the habits of the present species m the “ Water-Birds 
of North America” :— ■ j • r 11 
“Early in August, when the reeds have attaii.ed their luu 
growth, the ‘Sora Rail’ resorts to them in great numbers to feed 
on the seeds, of which it is very fond. This reed (the Zimww 
clavulosa of Michaux) grows up from the soft muddy shores of 
the tide-water, where the surface is alternately bare and covered 
with four or five feet of water, and attains a height of ten feet, 
covering tracts of many acres in extent, the stalks growing so 
closely together that a boat, excepting at high water, can 
hardly make its way through them. The seed of this plant is 
long and slender, white in colour, sweet to the taste and very 
nutritious. When the reeds are in fruit, the Rails, in great 
numbers, take possession of them. At this season, a ppson 
walking along the banks of the river may hear their cries in 
every direction. If a stone is thrown among the reeds, there 
is a general outcry, and a reiterated kuk-kuk^kuk, like the 
scream of a Guinea Fowl. Any sudden noise produces the 
same effect. None of the birds, however, can be seen except 
at high water ; and when the tide is low, they keep secreted, 
* Taken from Doughty’s Cabinet of Natural History. 
