Rail (bird)

“ Old gunners tell me that a rail will slip under water and cling to a reed with only his bill above the surface, thus imitating the grebe in his methods of concealment. They say that when hard pushed by dogs and guns they go entirely beneath the surface and sometimes cling there until drowned; also that they have known rails to go into fits and finally swoon from fright. I cannot vouch for these things myself, but I believe that if any bird ever swooned from fright it was a Carolina rail.
Duck, grebe, plover, and rail may come to us storm-driven by the stress of the equinoctial. ”

“ Eggs yellowish, spotted with ash-grey and red-brown.
The Water Rail is a generally diffused bird, but nowhere very common, haunting bushy and reedy places near the banks of rivers and lakes, and especially the Norfolk Broads, where it feeds on aquatic insects, worms, and snails. Like the Crakes, it makes more use of its legs than of its wings, and places its safety in concealment. Rarely does it take flight, and then only when closely hunted; still more rarely does it expose itself outside its aquatic jungle. ”

“ The nest of the Virginian Rail is not easily found after incubation has commenced, for then the male, contrary to the habits of most birds, becomes comparatively silent, and the female quite mute. At such times I have once or twice almost trodden on one, which I should never have discovered, had not the poor bird fluttered off in despair, employing all the artifices used by other species on such occasions. ”

“ The rail frequents marshes and boggy swamps. The nest is built in a tuft of weeds or grasses close to the water, is compact and slightly hollowed. The eggs are cream or buff, sparsely spotted with reddish-brown and obscure lilac, from 1.20 to 1.28 inches long to .90 to .93 broad. The number in a set varies from six to twelve. The eggs are hatched in June.
The Virginia rail is almost exclusively a fresh-water bird. It is not averse to salt water, but even near the sea it is likely to find out those spots in the bay where fresh-water springs bubble up rather than the brackish. ”

“ The Rail generally spring singly as the boat advances, and at a short distance a-head, are instantly shot down, while the boatman, keeping his eye on the spot where the bird fell, directs the boat forward, and picks the bird up, while the gunner is loading. It is also the boatman’s business to keep a sharp look out, and give the word ‘Mark,’ when a Rail springs on either side, without being observed by the sportsman, and to note the exact spot where it falls, until he has picked it up; for this once lost sight of, owing to the sameness in the appearance of the reeds, is seldom found again. ”

“ W. R. Wilde, author of the ' Narrative of a Yoyage to Madeira, the Mediterranean &c, mentioned to me on his return, that when at Algiers in the month of December he saw several land-rails, and was told that the species wintered there.
Footnote 1 Leigh, in his ' Natural History of Lancashire/ informs us that " the rale is a bird about the bigness of a partridge, and is common in these parts ; it hides itself in the grass, and is discovered by the snarling noise that it continually makes ; it is very excellent food, and doubtless of extraordinary nutriment." ”

“ King Rails are weak fliers; sometimes they drop exhausted in the middle of a city and residents are startled at seeing a queer bird on the streets.
VIRGINIA RAIL
Rallus virginianus Linnæus
Description.—Size of robin; sexes similar. Upperparts dark brown or black, the feathers edged with olive-brown or gray; wings and tail dark brown, reddish brown on coverts; forepart of superciliary line and throat, white; cheeks grayish; underparts reddish brown, save on flanks and under tail-coverts which are black or dark gray, sharply barred with white; bill and feet reddish; eyes red. ”

“ These are the "Rail-birds" or "Ortolans" which are annually slaughtered by thousands, for sport and marketing, during their fall migration. It is only because of the large families that they rear, that they are able to withstand this ^ * . *>
yearly decimanation of their ranks. They nest either in salt of fresh water marshes, making a jj^y rude structure of grass, weeds and strips of rushes, on the ground, generally concealed in a tuft of ghass in a tangled swamp or marsh. During May, they lay from six to sixteen eggs of a bright, buffy gray color, spotted with reddish brown and lavender. ”

“ The king-rail is a noble bird, and a few haunt the marshes all summer long, nesting where the tall grass is too rank and tangled even to tempt a restless cow. Perhaps they have in mind the danger of meddlesome mankind, and dwell in such spots accordingly. Taking the whole range of bird life into consideration, it certainly would appear that birds give a good deal of attention to such matters. And, before leaving the subject, I will add that, to be intelligible in discussing birds’ ways, one must assume that they have minds akin to ours ”

“ From its slow and slovenly mode of flight also, the corncrake is believed to fall too easy a sacrifice to the gun. So unwilling is this bird to take wing, that I have frequently seen it when running caught on the ground by dogs. The power of flight it can exert is, however, considerable when called forth by the pursuit of the peregrine falcon, as alluded to in the history of that bird.
For a short time only after arrival can the land-rail be followed by the sportsman without injury to the meadows or crops which it frequents. ”

“ Range.—Breeds and is resident in Southern Florida, and casually Texas.
[133]
RAILS, GALLINULES AND COOTS—Family Rallidæ KING RAIL
208. Rallus elegans. 18 in.
Back handsomely patterned with black, olive-brown and gray; wing coverts reddish-brown; neck and breast, rich cinnamon-brown, brightest on the breast. Sides sharply barred with black and white. This species is the handsomest of the rails, and is the most distinctly and brightly marked. They are excellent runners and are very difficult to start from the marsh grass within which they are concealed. ”

“ The line on which this bird migrates seems to be due north. It was never seen at the Depot or on any of the creeks to the west excepting Strzelecki's Creek, and a creek we crossed on our way to Lake Torrens, when on both occasions they were migrating southwards.
127. RALLUS PECTORALIS, CUVIER.--Water Rail.
This bird could hardly be distinguished from the English rail in shape and plumage. It is admirably adapted for making its way through reeds or grass, from its sharp breast. There are numbers of this rail on the Murray, but not many on the Darling; the natives can easily run it down. ”

“ Bewick, in one of the inimitable tail-pieces to his British Birds represents the catastrophe first alluded to. Footnote 9 Fortunately the species is very prolific, laying not unfrequently about a dozen of eggs : the young can run nimbly so soon as they burst the shell.
It is remarked by Sir Win. Jardine respecting this rail, that —" In some parts it has decreased and without apparent cause ; in the vale of the Annan in the south of Scotland, ten years since, the bird was extremely common, its note being heard in almost every alternate field ”

“ A range of short brown stiff feathers, about six inches long, fixed in the uropygium, is the real tail, and serves as the fulcrum to prop the train, which is long and top-heavy, when set on end. When the train is up, nothing appears of the bird before but its head and neck ”

“ Like that species, this one prefers fresh water marshes. They have a great aversion to flying, and, like other rails, will trust to their legs for safety, should danger threaten; probably no other birds are as dexterous as the rails in threading their way through the close standing rushes. ”

“ In spite of her wide experience, the dog mistook the landrail for a wounded bird when it rose, in its heavy way, some twenty yards before her, while she quested for a partridge. As if in revenge for having been fooled, she gave furious chase, and retrieved it. Flushed in a gale of wind, a landrail will make some progress, though its flight at first is rather suggestive of a wind-driven leaf. But after a time the flight grows stronger, as though the wings had worked off some stiffness. No bird seems less willing to be seen than the landrail. ”

“ If it were not for the note calls, these tall reeds and grasses would keep from us the secret of the Rail’s home.
Like most birds, though, they must be heard, and so late in the afternoon you may hear their clear note, ker-wee.
From all parts of the marsh you will hear their calls which they keep up long after darkness has set in.
This Rail was just about to step out from the grasses to feed when the artist took his picture. See him—head up, and tail up. He steps along carefully. He feels that it is risky to leave his shelter and is ready at the first sign of danger, to dart back under cover. ”

“ Like the fair sportswoman of the Volga marshes, I knew all the birds that haunt these wan regions: the black, or water-rail, which hops about in leafless trees; the red-rail, or corn-crake, which runs at lightning speed through the high grass, throws the best dogs off the scent, reduces the sportsman to breathlessness and makes you think you are after a hare, until it suddenly decides to take wing, from which moment it becomes an easy prey, poor, silly thing. ”

“ Rails are peculiar and interesting birds. The body is narrow and compressed like a flea’s; this enables them to slip through the dense reeds and water-plants in which they live. The comparatively long bills make it possible for them to pick up food in shallow water. Their long, slender toes, giving the feet a wide spread, make walking on floating vegetation and soft mud easy; nevertheless, at least some species are good swimmers.
Flocks of night-herons spent the days in a small clump of willows fringing the marsh. At dusk they grew very active and we could hear them croaking from afar. ”

“ When seen, they are almost constantly jetting up the tail, yet though their flight among the reeds seems feeble and fluttering, every sportsman who is acquainted with them here, must have seen them occasionally rising to a considerable height, stretching out their legs behind them, and flying rapidly across the river, where it is more than a mile in width. Such is the mode of Rail shooting in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. ”

“ It is evident that one at least of the parent birds must have accompanied the nest in all its journeys, for, putting aside the difficulty which must have been experienced by the parents in watching for every carriage that arrived at Giessen, the nestlings would have perished from hunger during their stay at Frankfort, for everyone who has reared young birds is perfectly aware that they need food every two hours. Moreover, the guard of the train repeatedly saw a red-tailed bird flying about that part of the carriage on which the nest was placed. ”

“ You probably know that pigeon fanciers hold races to see whose bird can get home first. And this is where the railways come in, for all the pigeons you see here came from the north in ten railway vans. On occasions like this the baskets are piled up by the side of the train, and then at a given moment the doors are slipped open and the pigeons fly out on their 250-mile journey home. ”

“ These Rails fly well enough when they once get started, and go a long way without stopping. But they are lazy about it in their summer homes, where they only flap up and then dodge down again to hide; so they are easy shooting—too easy to be any sport. ”

“ This is a very handsome species, with plumage of glossy brown, yellowish buff; black and white barred side feathers. The back is blackish with the feathers edged with white. These small Rails are like field mice, hard to locate or obtain sight of when in the marsh grass. They object to flying unless forced to do so, and trust to their small size and their agility to get through rushes to avoid being seen. ”

“ Dining car No. 211, attached to the Great Northern trains running between Seattle, Portland, and Spokane, has acquired a mascot in the shape of a carrier pigeon that apparently prefers the hazardous existence of a railroader to wild, free life on the wing. The pigeon was found lying half frozen near the depot, and one of the porters took the pigeon into the kitchen and fed and warmed it back to life, and the grateful bird responded to the kind treatment by refusing to leave when it had completely recovered. ”

“ In the latter half of April, we pass through what I call the "robin racket,"—trains of three [17] or four birds rushing pell-mell over the lawn and fetching up in a tree or bush, or occasionally upon the ground, all piping and screaming at the top of their voices, but whether in mirth or anger it is hard to tell. The nucleus of the train is a female. One cannot see that the males in pursuit of her are rivals ”

“ Not less beautiful is the nuptial flight of the wood-pigeon. Of this, the clapping of the wings above the back is the most salient feature, a sound which is never heard during the winter or after the breeding-season is fairly over. In full flight, the bird smites its wings two or three times smartly together above the back, then, holding them extended and motionless, it seems to pause for one instant—if there can be pause in swiftest motion—before sinking and then rising and sinking again, as does a wave, or as though it rested on an aerial switchback. ”

“ Their familiar honking is heard long before the thin, wavering, black, V-shaped line appears on the horizon; as it draws nearer, the volume of sound increases, resembling the baying of a pack of hounds, and at last, the flock sweeps overhead with deafening cries; large birds, with long necks fully outstretched, wings beating the air in unison, and all following the leadership of one bird in their journey over their invisible path. ”