Shadowbirds

Nature photographer Burt spotted his first rail, a small marsh bird, when he was a teenager. The sight launched his lifelong fascination with these elusive birds that have been called ``feathered mice.'' Of the six species found in North America, two--the black and the yellow--are rarely seen. Burt's highly personalized account of his search for, and attempts to photograph, these birds is a captivating story that takes place over the last two decades. To find the black rail he went to the salt-marsh meadows of Maryland's Elliott Island, a place of steamy heat, mosquitoes, deerflies and horseflies. Tracking the yellow rail, which he describes as a miracle of stealth and secrecy, he followed the nearly century-old trail of Reverend P. B. Peabody, who sought--and found--the tiny birds in a spongy bog in North Dakota, where Burt, too, accomplished his goal. Vivid descriptions of wetlands and wildlife other than rails are included in this appealing, distinctively voiced report, which is supplemented by eight pages of color plates. (May)