. Feathered game of the Northeast . contentwith the thatch seed, which is plainly a verynutritious food, for the rails on such diet arealways fat and in good order. Eail-like, the Sora flushes only as a last re-sort, preferring, if in danger, to run and skulkthrough the grass, and will worm and twist itsway among the closest-growing stalks with con-siderable speed—a proceeding for which theshape of its body peculiarly fits it. On the wingthey are slow and clumsy, flying heavily withtheir long legs hanging, and unless obliged tocontinue their course they will generally dropat once into the gras
. Feathered game of the Northeast . contentwith the thatch seed, which is plainly a verynutritious food, for the rails on such diet arealways fat and in good order. Eail-like, the Sora flushes only as a last re-sort, preferring, if in danger, to run and skulkthrough the grass, and will worm and twist itsway among the closest-growing stalks with con-siderable speed—a proceeding for which theshape of its body peculiarly fits it. On the wingthey are slow and clumsy, flying heavily withtheir long legs hanging, and unless obliged tocontinue their course they will generally dropat once into the grass and run a little furtherbefore hiding, hugging the cover even closerat the next attempt to put them up. Yet thesesame birds somehow travel from the mainlandto Cuba in their migratory flights, which takeplace at night and mostly on the full of themoon. In New England the rail is almost wholly amigrant. It is rarely that any of them bravethe rigors of our winters, and the few that at-tempt it do so only in the southern parts. In. <O THE SORA RAIL 233 the spring they arrive here about May andleave for their winter quarters soon after thefirst sharp frosts, though I have known of theirstaying here (Maine) until December twentiethin a mild season. The Sora makes its nest of soft dry grasseson a little hummock just above the high waterlimit, and lays from four to six eggs, in colora dull gray, splashed with brownish spots. Theyoung are covered with black down and are veryactive almost from their arrival, running aboutamong the reeds like mice. From their retir-ing habits and unobstrusive natures the railsprobably suifer less from hawks or other marshbirds enemies than do any of their neighbors. My best sport at rail-shooting has been dur-ing the high tides on the full of the moon inSeptember, when the sea had filled all the nooksand corners of the marsh and driven the birdsin from their resting places on the long grassand hummocks scattered through it. When thetide was up they
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