276 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
black and greyish-white, as are the lateral feathers of the rump; 
those of the abdomen reddish-yellow. 
“ Length to end of tail, 9 r 3 2 inches; to end of wings, 8f ; to 
end of claws, 12 ; extent of wings, 14 ; wing from flexure, 4; 
tail, 2 ; bill along the ridge, ff; along the edge of the lower 
mandible, ff; tarsus, 1^; its middle toe, 1^; its claw, 43 V* 
Weight, 7 oz. 
“ Adult female. 
“ The female differs considerably from the male in coloring. 
The naked parts and iris are similar, as are the upper parts 
generally; but the black around the base of the bill, on the 
head and fore-neck, is wanting, the fore parts of the head being 
light-brown, the chin whitish, the sides of the neck light grey¬ 
ish-brown. The white lines of the back are duller, and the 
dark bands of the sides of a lighter tint. 
“ Young male. 
“ The young male, after its first moult, is intermediate in color 
between the adult male and the female, but more like the lat¬ 
ter, the black on the head and fore-neck appearing in spots, 
and the sides of the neck being nearly as in the female.”— 
Audubon's Birds of America. 
“Of all our land or water fowl, perhaps none afford the sports¬ 
man more agreeable amusement or a more delicious repast 
than the little bird now before us. This amusement is indeed 
temporary, lasting only two or three hours in the day, for four 
or five weeks in each year, but as it occurs in the most agree¬ 
able and temperate of our seasons, is attended with little or no 
fatigue to the gunner, and is frequently successful, it attracts 
numerous followers, and is pursued in such places as the birds 
frequent, with great eagerness and enthusiasm. 
“ The natural history of the Rail, or as it is called in Virginia 
the Sora, and in South Carolina the Coot, is to the most of our 
sportsmen involved in profound and inexplicable mystery. It 
comes they know not whence, and goes they know not where. 
No one can detect their first moment of arrival; yet all at once 
