316 RALLIDE. 
sentatives are peculiarly coloured, having the breast buffy-vinous or rufous, instead of 
grey, as in the Old-World forms. 
1. Rallus tenuirostris. 
Rallus elegans, var. tenuirostris, Ridgw. Amer. Nat. viii. p. 14’. 
Rallus elegans tenuirostris, Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. ix. p. 177°. 
Railus tenuirostris, Ridgw. Man. N. Amer. Birds, p. 188°; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. 
p- 10 *. 
Rallus longirostris (nec Bodd.), Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 179°; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. Water-Birds 
N. Amer. i. p. 358 (pt.) °. 
Rallus elegans (nec Audub.), Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 444 (pt.)"; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 
u. p. 811°. 
Rallus crepitans (nec Gm.), Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. pp. 186°, 327”. 
Brunneus, nigro late striolatus, plumis singulis medialiter nigris brunneo longitudinaliter marginatis ; 
tectricibus alarum exterioribus concoloribus ferrugineis ; tectricibus primariorum remigibusque sepiariis, 
secundariis intimis dorso concoloribus ; rectricibus nigris, brunneo marginatis ; pileo nuchaque saturate 
brunneis concoloribus, frontis plumarum rhachidibus nitentibus nigris; loris et regione parotica fumoso- 
brunneis, fascia supralorali alba vix rufo tincta; genis et gula albis, illis vinaceo-rufo superne lavatis ; 
gutture imo et pectore toto saturate vinaceo-ferrugineis; abdomine medio albido ; corporis lateribus et 
subalaribus brunneis, fasciis albis nigro-marginatis transversim notatis; subcaudalibus albis: rostro 
brunneo, mandibula flavicante; pedibus brunneis; iride rubra. Long. tota circa 14:0, ale 5:6, 
caude 2°3, culm. 2°15, tarsi 1°75. (Descr. avis adulti ex Valley of Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 
Juv. adulto similis, sed corporis lateribus rufescente lavatis, concoloribus, vix pallidius transfasciatis ; subcau- 
dalibus vinaceis, longioribus albis subterminaliter nigro maculatis. 
_ Hab. Mexico, Mazatlan (Grayson 8), Valley of Mexico (White *®", Herrera ® 1), Laguna 
del Rosario, Tlaxcala (ferrari-Perez*). 
L. tenuirostris is the Mexican representative of R. elegans, which is widely distributed 
in the Nearctic Region, and is replaced by several closely allied forms in Central and 
South America. It differs chiefly from the North-American bird in having the flanks 
brown, with numerous narrow transverse bars of a lighter colour. 
No special notes have been published on its habits, but they are doubtless similar to 
those of the North-American species, which are described as shy, frequenting mangroves 
on the sea-shore or reedy marshes. 
Messrs. Newton, in their ‘“‘ Observations on the Birds of the Island of St. Croix ” (Ibis, 
1859, pp. 260, 261), state that the allied . longirostrés is very noisy, especially in the 
evening, and that when a gun is fired in their haunts they may be heard on every side. 
The eggs are about ten in number, and vary from pale buff to a dirty white, with 
spots and blotches of reddish-brown, lilac, and slate-colour °, 
‘9, Rallus virginianus. 
Le Rasle de Virginie, Briss. Orn. v. p. 175". 
Rallus virginianus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 263°; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1860, p. 277°; P. Z. S. 1868, 
p. 445°; Dresser, Ibis, 1866, p. 40°; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 311°; Baird, Brew., 
