Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CRANE-LIKE BIRDS

THE RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS

The Sora or Carolina Rail

(Porzana Carolina) of temperate North America may be taken as the representative of another large and widely distributed genus of some sixteen species. It differs from the true Rails in having a short, stout bill which is not more than two thirds the length of the tarsus.

It is about eight and one half inches long and is more or less olive-brown above and white below, with the front of the head, chin, and throat deep black, and the flanks barred with black. It is an inhabitant of fresh-water marshes, where, especially during the migrations, they often congregate in thousands. They feed largely on seeds, particularly those of the wild rice, and in fall become very fat and are then killed in great numbers for the table.

Like the others of its race it is shy and rarely seen unless searched for, and when standing silent and motionless among the reeds and rushes of its home is almost invisible. It has a variety of notes and calls, especially during the nesting season, and the clear, whistled kee-wee from a thousand voices in a well-stocked marsh suggests the”springtime chorus of piping frogs.”They breed in the marshes, building a very slight: nest of grasses on some bog or tussock, and lay from seven to twelve drab-colored, brown-spotted eggs.

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