74 
BIENNAL REPORT 
In the case of birds so secretive, so rarely seen and therefore so difficult to 
observe as the rails, a knowledge of their calls or notes is of first importance in 
recognizing their presence. This is not an easy matter for, like barnyard fowls, 
they utter a great variety of minor and unimportant sounds, but each has one 
or more characteristic performances which serve to distinguish it from its fellows. 
1 he Sora utters a “clear whistled “ker-iuee” but most distinctively a shrill “rolling 
whinny,” not to be mistaken for anything else among marsh bird-calls. The Vir¬ 
ginia Rail, besides grunting like the King Rail, delivers “a gutteral cut, cutta- 
cutta-cutta.” The King Rail often grunts like a pig and calls in a monotone 
‘ bup-bup-bup-bup”, sometimes rapidly and again slowly and distinctly. A pair 
of these birds, whose nest was studied and photographed at Heron Lake, uttered in 
addition to these notes a short, sharp syllable of protest resembling the sound 
usually made by the tongue and cheeks in urging on a horse. The Yellow Rail 
has a scolding “kik-kik-kik-kik-queah” compared by Nuttall to the croaking of 
a tree-frog. Gallinules are extremely noisy birds and they have a great variety 
of hen-like cacklings and gutteral notes with occasional loud and shrill outbursts 
which invariably set the whole colony going. They are especially vociferous at 
night and in the springtime seem never to rest. Coots are also cacklers and only 
a little less noisy than the gallinules. They have in addition a medley of other 
notes of varying intensity and it is easy to confuse the utterances of the two 
species. However the Coot is usually in the open and can be seen. 
SHORE BIRDS ( Limicolae). 
The Shore Birds are so called because most of the species are commonly 
found along the borders of lakes and streams, on sea beaches and on sandbars and 
mudflats. Their long legs fit them for wading and their long bills for searching in 
shallow water and probing in mud for food. But many of them also frequent up¬ 
lands and some spend most of their existence there finding the food they most 
prefer in such situations. With few exceptions they build their nests on dry land, 
some species at a considerable distance from water, while one eccentric even 
deposits its eggs in deserted nests in trees. The majority of the Shore Birds breed 
in the far north and winter far south, several going as far as the southern part 
of South America. Thus they must make long and hazardous journeys spring 
and fall. The 2,400-mile unbroken flight of the Golden Plover from Newfound¬ 
land to South America, in a straight line, far out at sea, is one of the wonders of 
bird migration. 
The story of the Shore Birds or Waders, in recent times is a sad one. Fifty 
years ago North America possessed an immense population of these birds, belonging 
to some fifty-odd species. Now, without exception, all the species are represented 
be only a meager remnant of the former great numbers and in one instance, the 
Eskimo Curlew, once one of the most abundant, almost complete extinction has, 
occurred. Several others, notably the Golden and Black-bellied Plovers, are dis¬ 
appearing so rapidly that a like result seems inevitable. Minnesota, with its vast 
water area and extensive unforested uplands, afforded in early days a congenial 
and undisturbed summer home for many species; and, lying directly in the most 
frequented path of migration in the interior, was host^ spring ^pd fall, to. att im¬ 
mense assemblage of transients belonging to this group. 
