RAIL: a name applied to a class of birds which contains many different varieties, distributed over many countries and ranging in size from the small Sora to the big Clapper Rail. The Marsh rails, numerically the most important, are marked by the peculiar formation of their bodies--which are broad and blunt behind and very narrow in front, this shape enabling them the more readily to make their way in, through and around the tall reeds of their marshy homes. The best known market type is the Virginia Rail, or Sora, also called "Carolina Rail," which has upper plumage of greenish or golden brown with black and white markings, the front of the head and throat black and the under-parts brownish or slate colored with black and white bars. Plucked and ready for market, the birds average in weight from two and a half to three pounds a dozen. The King Rail, also marketed but to lesser extent, is about twice as large as the Virginia Rail.