Sora Rail 95 



and presented by him to the Colorado College Museum, 

 were slightly incubated. They are pale creamy-white 

 with scattered spots and specks of reddish-browTi. and 

 a very pale lilac, and average r25 x '90. Gale's nest 

 only contained seven eggs — it was taken May 27th, 

 and the eggs were badly incubated. 



Genus PORZANA. 



Bill short and compressed, the culmen less than the middle toe and 

 claw, nostrils linear oval, about the middle of the bill ; tail very short 

 as in Rallus ; tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw ; toes not 

 webbed. 



An almost cosmopolitan genus, but as now restricted, with only one 

 North American species. 



Sora. Porzana Carolina. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 214 — Colorado Records — Ridgway 73, p. 187 ; 

 Morrison 89, p. 167 ; Cooke 97, pp. 63, 199 ; Henderson 03, p. 107 ; 09, 

 p. 227 ; Warren 08, p. 20 ; Felger 09, p. 86 ; Hersey & Rockwell 

 09, p. 114. 



Description. — Male — General colour above olive-brown, most of the 

 feathers with black centres and very characteristic, dead-white edges 

 to others ; crown, face in front of eye, chin, and a narrow throat-jDatch 

 black ; rest of the head and breast ashy-grey ; lower-breast white, 

 tinged with rufous towards the under tail-coverts ; sides and under 

 wing-coverts barred black and white ; iris brown, bill greenish, rather 

 orange at the base in the breeding season, legs greenish. Length 0-75 ; 

 wing 4-25 ; tail 1'5 ; culmen -85 ; tarsus 1-25. 



The female is slightly smaller — wing 4-0 ; a young bird has no 

 black or ashy on the face or neck ; the chin is white and the throat 

 and breast washed with rufous. 



Distribution. — Breeding from Newfoundland and British Columbia 

 south over most of the United States ; wintering from South Carolina 

 and the Gulf States to the West Indies and northern Sovith America. 



The Sora is quite a common siunmer resident in Colorado in suitable 

 localities, breeding from the plains up to about 9,000 feet in the valley 

 of the Blue River (Carter), but chiefly in north-east Colorado. It 

 has been reported from Boulder co. (Henderson), Barr, where is nests 

 plentifully (Hersey & Rockwell), Lay, in Rout co., probably breeding 

 (Warren), Colorado Springs (Aiken) and Salida (Colo. Coll. Mus.), and 

 is probably common elsewhere. Felger found, on September 2nd, 1903, 



