YELLOW-BREASTED RAIL, 215 



The female and young of the ijear have the throat nearly white, 

 the breast pale brown, and little or no black on the head. The 

 young are also much smaller, and the pale brown tint prevails over 

 all the lower plumage, with a slight indication of ash only on 

 the throat : the front and sides of the head are also brown. The 

 rump and adjoining part of the sides is much brighter rufous than in 

 the adult. 



YELLOW-BREASTED RAIL. 



(Rallus novehoraccnsis, Boxap. Syn. No. 373. Am. Orn. iv. p. 136- 

 pi. 27. fig. 2. [young.] Gallinula notehoracensis, Lath. ii. p. 771. 

 sp. 16. Fulica noveboracensis, Gmel. Syst. i. p. 701. sp. 15. Per- 

 dix hudsonica? Ibid. ii. p. 65.5. sp. 41. Yelloio- Breasted Galli- 

 nule, Lath, and Penx. Arct. Zool. ii. p. 491. No. 410. Rallus 

 ruficoUis, ViEXLL. Gal. des Ois. p. 168. t. 266. American Mu- 

 seum, in New York.) 



Sp. Charact. — Black, skirted with pale olive-brown, and varied 

 all over with narrow transverse w^hite bars ; beneath yellowdsh- 

 brown and waved ; lower wing coverts and a great part of the 

 secondaries, white — Female duller, and the legs lineatcd. 



The Yellow-Breasted Rail, though found sparingly in 

 many parts of the Union, and in Canada, is every where 

 rare. It has been met with, apparently, as a mere straggler 

 in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia, in the depth 

 of winter ; and has likewise been seen in Missouri, probably 

 on its spring passage towards the north. Where it winters, 

 whether in the Southern States, or in still milder climes, is 

 yet unknown. 



Mr. Hutchins, in a manuscript, written as far back as 

 1777, quoted by Dr. Richardson in his Northern Zoology, 

 says, " This elegant bird is an inhabitant of the marshes " 

 on the coast of Hudson's Bay, near the mouth of Severn 

 River, " from the middle of May to the end of September. 

 It never flies above 60 yards at a time, but runs with great 



