VIRGINIA RAIL
212. Rallus virginianus. 9.5 in.
Coloration almost exactly like that of the [King Rail], but the bird is much smaller. 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. Although they do not have webbed feet, they can swim fairly well, and also dive, but they do so only when they are forced to. They look extremely awkward as they run over the trash on the marsh, their head and neck erect and extended, with their head rapidly turning from side to side as though looking for a place of safety.
Notes.—A guttural, rattling “cut-cut-cut-ee.”
Nest.—Of grasses, on the ground or in tufts of rushes; eggs creamy-white, specked with brown (1.25 × .90); May, June.
Range.—Breeds in the northern half of the United States and southern Canada; winters in southern U. S.
