120 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



GeXUS POKZAXA VlKlLLUT. 



SuufiKxrs POKZANA. 

 PORZANA CAROr^TNA (Linn.). 



.^2. Sora. (-*U) 



Above, olive-brown, varied witli Ijlaek, with miiiierous sharp white streaks 

 and specks ; flanks, axillars and lining of wings, l)arred with white and Ijlaekisli ; 

 belly, whitish; crissum, rufescent. Adult : — With the face and central line of 

 the throat black, thp rest of the throat, line over eye, and especially the breast 

 more or less intense!}' slate-gray, the sides of the breast usually with some 

 obsolete whitish Ijarring and speckling. Young : — Without tlie black, the 

 throat whitish, the breast brown. Length, 8-9; wing, 4-4.^; tail, about 2; bill, 

 g-f ; tarsus, 1;^; middle toe and claw, Ig. 



Hab. — Temperate North America, but most common in the Eastern Pro- 

 vince, breeding chiefly northward. .South to West Indies and northern South 

 America. 



Builds a rude nest of grass and rushes on tlie ground near the water. 



Eggs, eight to ten, dull tliab, marked with reddish-brown. 



Here, as elsewhere, the Sora is the most numerous of the Rail 

 family, and is found breeding in all suita1)le places throughout the 

 country, ^lany also pass up north, and when the}' return in the 

 fall, accompanied liy their 3'oung, they linger in tlie marshes along the 

 southern border till they are found swarming everywhere. They are 

 very sensitive to cold, and a sportsman may have good rail shooting 

 till late in the evening, but should a sharp frost set in during the 

 night, he may return in the morning and find that the birds have all 

 left. 



Many spend the summer in tlie Xorth-West, but they are most 

 abundant in the Middle Atlantic States, wliere great nuinbei's are 

 killed for the table in the fall. 



In Southern Ontario they arrive in .May, and lea\e in Sppteiiil)er 

 at the first touch of frost. 



SuBGExus COTURNICOPS Bon.\p.\htk. 

 PORZANA NOVEBORACENSIS ((Jm.). 



83. Yellow Rail. C'l')) 



Above, varied with blackish and oclirey-brown, and thickly niai'ked with 

 narrow white semicircles and transverse liass; below, pale ochreN'-brown, fading 

 on the belly, deepest on the breast where many of the feathers are tipped witli 



