May 2008

What about the Rail?

The word “rail” probably derives from a French dialect word “reille” and referred to its cry. The phrase “thin as a rail” does not refer to railroad tracks, but these birds whose bodies are laterally flattened, giving them easier passage through the swamps and moors they inhabit.

---

 

See Roger Lederer's "Amazing Birds" in bookstores now; published by Barron's

This page sponsored byNature Study Guild Publishers
publisher of the Bird Finder and the Pacific Coast Bird Finder, authored by the Ornithologist at Ornithology.com.