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Show 106 MR. W. H. HUDSON ON THE HABITS OF RAILS. [Jan. 18, Where there are forests, and on misty or rainy days, they stray to a distance from the reeds. They walk with an easy and somewhat stately grace, jerking up the tail, Rail-like, at every stride, and run with a velocity no man can equal. Occasionally they perch on trees, and are fond of strutting to and fro on a horizontal branch. When surprised on the open ground the Ipecaha lies close, like a Tinamou, refusing to rise until almost trodden upon. It springs up with a loud-sounding whirr, rushes violently through the air, till, gaining the reeds, it glides a few yards and then drops : its flight is thus precisely like that of the Tinamou, and is more sounding and violent than that of the Grouse or Partridge. On spying an intruder it immediately utters a powerful cry, in strength and intonation not unlike that of the Peafowl. This note of alarm is answered by other birds at a distance as they hastily advance to the spot where the warning was sounded. The cry is repeated at irregular intervals, first on one hand, then on the other, as the birds change their position to dog the intruder's steps and inspect him from the reeds. I have surprised parties of them in an open space, and shot one or more ; but no sooner had the survivors gained their refuge than they turned about to watch and follow me, sounding their powerful alarm the whole time. I have frequently been followed half a mile through the rushes by them, and, by lying close and mimicking their cries, have always succeeded in drawing them about me. But the Ipecaha's loudest notes of alarm are weak compared with the cries he utters at other times, when, untroubled with a strange presence, he pours out his soul in screams and shrieks that amaze the listener with their unparalleled power. These screams, in all their changes and modulations, have a resemblance to the human voice, but of the human voice exerted to its utmost pitch, and expressive of agony, frenzy, and despair. A long piercing shriek, astonishing for its strength and vehemence, is succeeded by a lower note, as if in the first one the creature had well-nigh exhausted itself. The double scream is repeated several times ; then follow other sounds, resembling, as they rise and fall, half-suppressed cries of pain and moans of anguish. Suddenly the unearthly shrieks are renewed in all their power. This is kept up for some time, several birds screaming in concert; it is renewed at intervals throughout the day, and again at set of sun, when the woods and marshes resound with the extravagant uproar. I have said that several birds unite in screaming; this is invariably the case. I have enjoyed the rare pleasure of witnessing the birds at such times; and the screams then seem a fit accompaniment to their disordered gestures and motions. A dozen or twenty birds have their place of reuuion on a small area of smooth clean ground surrounded by reeds ; and by lying well concealed and exercising some patience one is enabled to watch their proceedings. First one bird is heard to utter a loud metallic-sounding note, three times repeated, and somewhat like the call of the Guinea-fowl. It issues from the reeds, and is a note of invitation quickly responded to by other birds on every hand as they all |
