. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. KAILS AND GALLINULES 257 The chipmunks stop in the midst of play; The gophers hide in their holes away; And " Hush, oh, hush!" the field-mice say, When the sandhill crane goes walking. Mrs. Mary Austin, in St. THE FAMILY OF RAILS. Rallidae. From the stately crane to the timid, self- effacing Virginia Rail2 is going at one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. To the latter, which is a bird about half the size of a bob-white, a crane must seem like
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. KAILS AND GALLINULES 257 The chipmunks stop in the midst of play; The gophers hide in their holes away; And " Hush, oh, hush!" the field-mice say, When the sandhill crane goes walking. Mrs. Mary Austin, in St. THE FAMILY OF RAILS. Rallidae. From the stately crane to the timid, self- effacing Virginia Rail2 is going at one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. To the latter, which is a bird about half the size of a bob-white, a crane must seem like a giant whose head is in the clouds. The crane can either fight, run or fly away; but the rail is safe only when threading the mazes of a reedy marsh, where no enemy can follow it far. When boating on a marsh filled with cat-tails, or reeds, or tall grass, you may hear a score of rails clucking and calling in the heart of the green tangle about you without seeing one. There are times when it seems as if this bird is a de- liberate and intentional ventriloquist, for its voice seems to come from all directions save that which points toward its owner. A marsh is as necessary to rails as water is to fishes. When a rail flies up out of a marsh or a meadow, you can recognize it by its feeble, fluttering flight, and its hanging legs. Often in alighting it seems to fall helplessly into the tall cover. In the mosquito-ridden marshes along the New Jersey shore, dwells a species known as the Sora Rail3 in numbers sufficiently numerous to attract gunners. The moment the "law is off," the flat-bottomed boats are brought out, and the fusillade begins. With no larger game available, even a small Rail can form an excuse for a day's outing on the marshes, bringing the grip of the gun-stock, the dull "boom" that is music to the desk-weary man, and the welcome smell of gunpowder. Therefore, rail not at all those who shoot rails; for there be some who do not shoot "for rev
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