RALLID^ — THE RAILS — PORZANA. 377 



times he could approacli it witliiu a few yards, when it woukl only rise more erect, gaze 

 at him for a moment, and then resume its occupation. He was told that the best way 

 to obtain a shot at this bird is to lie concealed near an opening, and call it out of cover 

 by imitating its notes ; when, being very pugnacious, it comes to the open space and is 

 easily shot. Its flesh is said to be delicate and savory. Its flight is described as being 

 swift, and more protracted than that of most of the Eails. 



Mr. Audubon describes the nest of this bird as being similar to that of Rallus 

 elegans ; but as he mentions that the eggs are white, and that the nest resembles that 

 of the Common Quail, we cannot receive his account as altogether reliable. 



Dr. James Trudeau, as quoted by Mr. Audubon, states that this Eail winters in 

 the Southern States, arriving in Louisiana about the end of October or the beginning 

 of November, and that it is common in marshes in the vicinity of woods. It is with 

 diflficulty forced to fly, and even when pursued by a dog it will only rise when appar- 

 ently just on the point of being caught. Some of this species nest in Louisiana ; 

 others migrate northward about the beginning of March. Dr. Trudeau has seen them 

 in Salem, IST. J., about the end of April, a few remaining there. 



Mr. Nuttall mentions that in the meadows of West Cambridge, Mass., and in 

 other wet marsh-lands rarely visited by man, he has occasionally met with this bird. 

 One was brought to him late in autumn that had been surprised while feeding on 

 insects by the margin of a small pool overgrown with the leaves of the water-lily ; 

 without attempting either to swim or to fly, it darted nimbly over the floating leaves. 

 When wounded it can swim and dive with great skill. Mr. Ives informed Mr. Nuttall 

 that it is frequently met with, in the fall, in the marshes in the vicinity of Salem, 

 Mass. Mr. jS"uttall also mentions that, having spent the night of Oct. G, 1831, in a 

 lodge on the borders of Fresh Pond, he heard, about sunrise, the Yellow-breasted 

 Eails begin to stir among the reeds. As soon as awake, they called out, in an abrupt 

 and cackling cry, krek-krek, krek, krek, kuk k'kh. This note, apparently from young 

 birds, was answered in a lower and soothing tone. These uncouth and guttural notes 

 resembled in sound the croaking of the tree-frog. These birds were probably a 

 migrating brood from the north. By the first of November this cackling ceases, and 

 in all probability the whole have passed farther south. 



Three eggs in the Smithsonian Collection (No. 7057), from Winnebago, in North- 

 ern Illinois, measure respectively, 1.08 inches by .85, 1.12 by .82, 1.12 by .80. They 

 are of oval shape, one end slightly more tapering than the other. Their ground-color 

 is a very deep buff, and one set of markings — which are almost entirely confined to 

 the larger end — consists of blotches of pale diluted purplish brown ; these are over- 

 lain by a dense sprinkling of fine dottings of a rusty brown. 



Porzana jamaicensis. 



THE LITTLE BLACK RAIL. 



a. jamaicensis. 



Rallus jamaicensis, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 17S8, 718 — Aud. Oni. Biog. IT. 1838, 359, pi. 349. 

 Ortycjmnetra jamaicensis, " Stephexs, Shaw's Gen. Zool." — Aud. Synop. 1839, 214; B. Am. "\ . 



1842, 157, pi. 308. 

 Pormna jamaicensis, Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 749. — Baii;d, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 556. 



— CouEs, Key, 1872, 247 ; Check List, 1873, no. 470 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 681 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 



539. — PaiiGW. Xom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 576. 

 Crex pygmoia, Blackwell, Brewster's Jour. VI. 1832, 77. 

 Ortycjometra chilensis, BoNAP. Compt. Rend. XLIII. 599. 

 Rallus salinasi, Philippi, Wiegm. Archiv, 1867, 262. 

 •' Gallinula salinasi, Phil. Cat. 1869, 38." 

 VOL. I. — 48 



