RALLID.E THE RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS. 91 



This fine bird, the largest of the American true Rails, is a 

 common summer resident, in suitable localities, throughout the 

 State. In Cook county it arrives, according to Mr. Nelson, 

 "the last of April and departs in October." 



Rallus virginianus Linn. 



VIRGINIA RAIL. 



Rallus virginianux LINN. S.N. ed. 12, i, 1766,263. WILS. Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 109, pi. 62, fig. 1. 

 NUTT. Man. ii, 1831, 205 ; AUD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 41 ; v, 1839, 573, pi. 205; B. Am. v, 1842, 174, 

 pi. 311. BAIRD, B. N. Am. 1858, 748; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 554. COUES, Key, 1872,273; 

 Check List, 1873. No. 467; 2d ed. 1882. No. 677; Birds N. W. 1874, 536.-RiDGW.Bull.Nutt. 

 Orn. Club, v, No. 3. 1880. 140; Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 572; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 138. 

 A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 212. 



HAB. The whole of temperate North America as far as the British Provinces, south to 

 Guatemala and Cuba; winters a'most to the northern limit of its range. 1 



SP. CHAR. Adult: A miniature of II. eleoans, but more deeply colored. Above oliva- 

 ceous, heavily striped with black; wing-coverts chestnut-rufous; remiges plain dusky; 

 crown and nape dusky, sometimes uniform, usually indistinctly streaked with olive; a 

 brownish white supraloral line; Fide of head uniform plumbeous (sometimes obscured 

 with a brownish wash) ; malar region, forene.-k, chest, breast, sides, and abdomen, some- 

 times throat also, cinnamon, the middle .of the belly lighter (sometimes whitish); flanks 

 (not sides) and axillars dusky, barred with white ; lining of wing dusky, the feathers tipped 

 and bordered with white. Downy young: Glossy black; bill scarlet or orange-red in life 

 (whitish or pale yellowish in the skin), slightly marked with blackish in front of the nostril 

 and on the base of mandible. Young (first ijlumage): "Top and sides of head, neck behind, 

 back anteriorly, rump, breast, and sides, dull dead black. Interecapular region black, with 

 a few of the feathers margined with brownish olive. Wing-coveits and wings nearly as in 

 adult, a little duller and darker, perhaps. Superciliary line obscure ashy. Throat ashy 

 white, finely spotted with black. Central region of lower breast and abdomen, with a few 

 of the feathers on the sides, tinged with white. Anal region and crissum dull reddish 

 chestnut. In my cabinet, from Cambridge, Mass.. August, 1875. Several other specimens 

 of corresponding ages agree closely with the one above described. A male, however (Cam- 

 bridge, Aug. 9, 1875), differs in having a faint reddish wash over the white on the breast and 

 abdomen." (BREWSTER, Iiu.ll. Nutt. Orn. Clnb, Jan, 1879, p. 45). 



Total length, about 7.50 inches; wing, 3.90-4.25; culmen, 1.45-1.60; tarsus, 1.30-1.40; 

 middle toe, 1.20-1.40. "Bill dark brown, the lower mandible and edges of upper yellowish 

 brown; iris bright red; feet yellowish brown tinged with olive; claws more dusky." ( Au- 

 DUBON.) 



This species is very much like It. <lc</<n>s in miniature, being 

 exceedingly similar to that species in coloration. Close exam- 

 ination, however, reveals several important differences, the more 

 obvious of which are the following: The whole plumage is 

 darker; the sides ,of the head more uniformly and distinctly 

 plumbeous; the sides and abdomen are cinnamon, like the 

 breast, instead of being respectively barred, like the flanks, and 



A specimen was sent by Captain Bendire to the National Museum from Walla Walla, 

 Washington, which was shot Jan. 16. 1879, when the snow was more than a foot deep! 



