THE CAROLINA RAIL. 
191 
begin to show themselves on the reedy borders of the Dela- 
ware, and other large waters of the Middle States, whose 
still and sluggish streams, spreading out over muddy fiats, 
give birth to an abundant crop of the seeds of the wild 
rice, now the favourite food of the Kails and the rice 
birds. 
On first arriving, from the labour and privation incident 
to their migrations, they are lean, and little valued as food ; 
but as their favourite 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 Kails 
squeaking like young puppies. If a stone be thrown in 
amongst them, there is a general outcry through the reeds, 
a confused and reiterated 'kuk ' kuk 'kuk ’k’k ' k'k , resounds 
from the covered marsh, and is again renewed by the timid 
throng, on the discharge of a gun or any other sudden noise 
within their hearing. 
The Kails, however numerous, are scarcely visible, unless 
it be at or near to high water ; for when the tide is down, 
they have the art so well to conceal themselves among 
the reeds, that you may walk past and even over them, 
