370 ALECTORIDES. 



Porzana Carolina. 



THE CAROLINA RAIL; SORA RAIL. 



Ballus carolinus, Linn. S. N. I. ed. lo, I. 175S, 153 ; ed. 12, I. 176G, 263. — Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. 



II. 1831, 403. — AUD. Orn. Biog. ill. 1835, 251 ; V. 1839, 572, pi. 233. 

 Eallus (Crcx) carolinus, Boxap. Obs. Wils. 1825, no. 230. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 209. 

 Ortijgomctra Carolina, Boxap. Comp. List, 1838, 53 — Aud. Synop. 1839, 213 ; B. Am. V. 1842, 145, 



pi. 306. 

 Porzana Carolina, Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 749. — Baiud, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 555. — 



CouES, Key, 1872, 273 ; Check List, 1873, no. 468 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 679 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 



538. — RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 574. 

 Rallus stnUdus, Vieii.l. Knc. IMi'tli. 1823, 1071. 



Hab. The whole of temperate North America, but most common in tlie Eastern Province ; 

 West Indies in general ; whole of Middle America, south to New Granada and Venezuela ; acci- 

 dental in Greenland and Europe ; Bermudas (numerous in migrations). Breeds chiefly in the 

 northern part of its range. 



Sp. Char. Adult: Above, bright olive-brown, with longitudinal spots of black, some of the 

 feathers edged with white ; top of head with a l)road longitudinal stiipe of Ijlack ; anterior por- 

 tion of head, with chin and throat, black ; sides of heail and neck (except as described), jugu- 

 lum, and breast light plumbeous ; abdomen white ; anal I'egion and crissuni creamy white or pale 



buir ; flanks sharply barred with white and shite-cohjr. Young : Similar, but lores and superciliary 

 stripe brownish, the chin and throat whitish ; rest of neck, with jugulum and breast, light brown- 

 ish. Bill greenish yellow (more orange, especially at base, in summer adults) ; iris brown ; legs 

 and feet greenish. '■'Dowrtij stage — chick a few days old : Bill short, exceedingly compressed, high 

 at base, rapidly tapering, the tip deflected. The whole body densely covered with dull black 

 down, beyond which are produced abundant long, glossy, black hair-like filaments. Upon the 

 throat is a tuft of stiff, coarse bristle-like feathers of a bright orange-color. These are directed 

 forward, and give the l)inl a most singular appearance. (From a specimen in my cabinet collected 

 at Cambridge, Mass., June 24, 1874.) This Inrd, although the only specimen of the kind now at 

 hand, is one of a large brood which was attended by the female parent. Several of the others 

 were distinctly seen and closely examined at the time. All had a similar orange tuft upon the 

 throat." [Brewster, in "Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club,'' January, 1879, p. 48.] 



The most abundant and most universally known bird of its genus inhabiting the United States, 

 and variously known as "the Rail," "Sora," or "Ortolan," according to locality. It is especially 

 numerous along the creeks and rivers on the Atlantic during the autumnal migration, when excur- 

 sions for obtaining it are a favorite amusement of our gunners and sportsmen. It appears to inhabit 

 the entire temperate regions of North America. There is apparently little, if any, geographical 

 variation noticeable in a large series of 8])ecimens, and the principal individual variation consists 

 in tlie extent of the black on the throat, which in some examples extends back as far as the middle 

 of the abdomen. 



The Common Sora Rail, so abundant in the eastern portion of the Middle States 

 during its migrations, and so familiar to all the sportsmen of the Delaware, appears 



