CAROLINA RAIL. 
Ill 
exclamation of “ What can become of them !” Some 
profound inquirers, however, not discouraged with 
these difficulties, have prosecuted their researches with 
more success ; and one of those, living a few years ago 
near the mouth of James River in Virginia, where the 
rail or sora are extremely numerous, has (as I was 
informed on the spot) lately discovered that they change 
into frogs ! having himself found in his meadows an 
animal of an extraordinary kind, that appeared to be 
neither a sora nor a frog, but, as he expressed it, 
“ something between the two.” He carried it to his 
negroes, and afterwards took it home, where it lived 
three days ; and in his own and his negroes’ opinion, it 
looked like nothing in this world but a real sora 
changing into a frog ! What farther confirms this grand 
discovery is the well known circumstance of the frogs 
ceasing to hollow as soon as the sora comes in the fall. 
This sagacious discoverer, however, like many others 
renowned in history, has found but few supporters, 
and, except his own negroes, has not, as far as I can 
learn, made a single convert to his opinion. Matters 
being so circumstanced, and some explanation necessary, 
I shall endeavour to throw a little more light on the 
subject by a simple detail of facts, leaving the reader 
to form his own theory as he pleases. 
The rail or sora belongs to a genus of birds of which 
about thirty different species are enumerated by natu- 
ralists; and those are distributed over almost every 
region of the habitable parts of the earth. The general 
character of these is every where the same. They run 
swiftly, fly slowly, and usually with the legs hanging 
down; become extremely fat ; are fond of concealment; 
and, wherever it is practicable, prefer running to flying. 
Most of them are migratory, and abound during the 
summer in certain countries, the inhabitants of which 
have very rarely an opportunity of seeing them. Of 
this last the land rail of Britain is a striking example. 
This bird, which during the summer months may be 
heard in almost every grass and clover field in the 
kingdom, uttering its common note Crek , crek , from 
