378 



ALECTORIDES. 



h. coturniculus. — FARALLON BAIL. 



Porzana jamakensis, vnr. coturniculus, " Baii;d MS." — Kiuuw. Am. Nat. VIII. Feb. 1874, 111. 

 Porzana jamaicoms, b. coturniculus, Col'es, Birds X. W. 1874, 510. 



Porzana jamaicensis coturniculus, Ridgw. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. 3, 1881, 202, 222 ; Nom. N. 

 Am. B. 1881, no. 576 a. — Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 682. 



II.\i3. Temperate North America, north to Massachusetts, Northern Illinois (breeding), Kan- 

 sas, Oregon, and California ; south through Western South America to Chili ; Cuba ; Jamaica ; 

 Bermudas. Tlie race coturniculus coufiued to the Farallon Islands, California. 



Sp. Char. Smaller than P. novehoracensis, and the smallest of North American Mallidcc. 

 Adult : Head, neck, and lower parts dark plumbeous or slate-color, darkest, and often nearly black, 



^M 



p. javmicensis. 



on the pileum ; abdomen and crissum brownish black, marked with transverse bars of white ; nape 

 and back dark cliestnut or reddish sepia-brown, the other upper parts brownish black, witli small 

 dots and irregular transverse bars of white ; primaries immaculate dusky, or with small spots of 

 white. Younrj : Similar, I)ut lower parts dull ashy, the throat inclining to white, and the crown 

 tinged witli reddish brown. Downy youmj : " Entirely bluish black" (Cassin). Bill black ; iiis 



P. jamaicensis coturniculus. 



red; "feet Imght yellowish green" (Audubon i). Total length, aliout 5.00 inches ; wing 2.50- 

 3.20; cnlmen, .50-60 ; tarsus, .85-.90 ; middle toe, .80-1.00. 



Several Chilian specimens in the collection of the U. S. National Museum appear to be exactly 

 like specimens from the United States. A fine adult from San Francisco, Cal., in Mr. Henshaw's 

 collection, also agrees minutely witli eastern specimens and those from Chili, mentioned above : 

 but one (Xo. 12862) from the Farallon Islands, otf the coast of California, differs in so many par- 

 ticulars that Professor Baird has described it as a distinct local race (P. coturniculus'), with the 

 following distinctive characters : Back wnthout white specks ; depth cif bill .15 of an inch, instead 

 of .20-,25, the culmen being as long as the maximum in true P . jaTnaicensis. The general size is 

 also smaller. 



So far as we are informed, this species — tlie smallest of our North American 

 Rails — is of infrequent occurrence on the Atlantic coast. It is known to occur from 

 the Delaware marshes about Philadelphia southward ; and is said to be more common 



^ In an adult male, killed June 6, 1879, near Wasliington, D. C, the fresh colors of the ".soft parts" 

 were as follows : Bill entirely deep black ; iris bright brick-red ; legs and feet brown, iimeh the same color 

 as the wiug-coverts. 



