WADING BIRDS. 
190 
up to the 6 2d parallel they are common through the summer, 
and were observed by Dr. Richardson to be particularly abun- 
dant on the banks of the small lakes that skirt the Saskatche- 
wan plains. In the vast reedy marshes, swamps, and lagoons 
of these desolate regions the greater part of the species are no 
doubt reared, as but few of them are ever known to breed in 
the warmer parts of the continent ; and the history of their 
manners at the period of incubation is therefore still a blank. 
The observations of persons not conversant with the nice dis- 
tinctions necessary in natural history ought to be received 
with caution, as they might easily confound the mere young of 
the present and the preceding species as one and the same. 
The alleged nest, eggs, and young birds covered with a black 
down mentioned by Wilson agree perfectly with the Virginian 
Rail ; but the length of the bill and any other discriminating 
particulars are wholly omitted. We may conclude, therefore, 
up to the present time that the actual young and nest of the 
Soree are yet unknown, and that all which has been said on 
this subject is but conjecture or a misapplication of facts 
belonging to the preceding species. 
Like the other migrating waders, the Rails, accompanied by 
their swarming broods, bred in the North and West, begin to 
show themselves on the reedy borders of the Delaware and 
other large waters of the Middle States, whose still and sluggish 
streams, spreading out over muddy flats, give birth to an abun- 
dant crop of the seeds of the Wild Rice, now the favorite food 
of the Rails and the Rice Birds. On first arriving from the labor 
and privation incident to their migrations, they are lean, and 
little valued as food ; but as their favorite natural harvest begins 
to swell out and approach maturity, they rapidly fatten, and from 
the middle of September to the same time in October they 
are in excellent order for the table, and eagerly sought after 
wherever a gun can be obtained and brought into operation. 
Walking by the borders of these reedy rivers in ordinary 
seasons, you hear in all directions the crowding Rails squeak- 
ing like young puppies. If a stone be thrown in amongst them, 
there is a general outcry through the reeds ; a confused and 
