Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-12
Price Four Cents

less numbers of them. When the tide is low they are actively engaged in running about among the rushes, gathering food but at high water they sit in the punches of grass and prefer to fly on the approach of a boat, although they are expert runners and easily escape by skulking and dodging if the water Is not too deep. The sportsman who pur- sues them starts about an hour before the
 tide is up, taking his stand in the bow of a light boat, with gun ready, and a box of cartridges at his feet. A man in the stern,
 armed with long pole, pushes the boat
 through the partially submerged rushes and
 marks down the dead birds This latter is
 rather difficult feat, but the ''pushers'' who
 make it business to take out sportsmen soon become adopts at finding birds that have fall en in the most tangled and inaccessible places
 When several persons shooting the sport becomes quite exciting; the air is filled with little clouds of powder smoke that
 hang low over the water and the rushes; guns
 are banging on every side; rails are calling
 'k-e-a-p," "k-e-a-p," ''k-i-p,' with loud
 shrill voices; men are shouting and poles
 splashlng. The rails jump up very near the
 boats and do not fly fast, so that very ordi-
 nary shooter can kill almost every one that he
 fires at. The guns are loaded lightly and the
 pleasure Is increased by using the Dittmar
 powder, which makes;very little noise and smoke. Rail shooting does not demand the steady nerve, the quick determination, the sturdy muscle and unerring eye of the pratt ridge hunter, nor does 1t require thorough knowledge of the habits of the bird, bHt 1t Is, nevertheless, very pleasant pastime and
 helps to keep the sportsman comforted until the golden days of October upon us with their wealth of glorious landscapes and abundance of finer game. The soras are
 most excellent table birds and they possess most delicate and ''gamy'' flavor, which can be developed to any extent according to the ability of the cook
 The Virginia rail, known to the naturalist as the RGllus Virgt7aiGnus, breeds commonly in our marshy meadows, but is not killed in any such numbers as the sora. This is part ly due to the fact that the former prefers to run on land that is not entirely submerged and is in consequence seldom approached by , the boats. The Virginia rail is the handsomer of the two as to color; the upper parts are olive brown with longitudinal stripes of brownish black; a reddish line extends from the base of the bill over the eye, throat white, neck and breast bright rufous; ab- domen with stripes of black and white the bill is larger than that of the sora and is of reddish color.
 The Marsh Hen Radius EleganS) is the largest of our rails and the most beautiful It attains the length of seventeen inches the prevailing colors are rufous, chestnut olive brown and ashy. This species is much moro southern in it's habitat and is seldom killed in Connecticut.
 The Clapper Rail (I2dllatS Crepitdns), known also as king rail and mud hen, is occasionally shot by the sportsman, but not frequently enough to be worthy of pursuit. This spe- cies is also very beautiful, and to the eye of the hunter is colored much like the marsh hen. It's size, however, is much less, it's length being fourteen inches.
 The Yellow Rail (Porza7eG No2e6oyacensis) is the smallest and the rarest of the family The entire upper parts are ocher- yellow; neck and breast reddish yellow with brown dots; length, six inches. M