138 HISTORY OF THE 



Rallus virginianus Linx. 



VIRGINIA RAIL. 

 PLATE X. 



Summer resident; rare; during migration, common. Arrive 

 the middle of April to first of May; begin laying about the 

 middle of May; return in September to October. 



B. 554. K. 572. C. 677. G. 308, 63. U. 212. 



Habitat. The whole of temperate North America, north to 



British Columbia and Hudson's Bay, south to Guatemala and 



Cuba. 



Sp. Char. '^Adult: A miniature of B. elegans, but more deeply colored. 

 Above, olivaceous, heavily striped with black; wiug coverts chestnut rufous; 

 remiges plain dusky; crown and nape dusky, sometimes uniform, usually indis- 

 tinctly streaked with olive; a brownish white supraloral line; side of head 

 uniform plumbeous (sometimes obscured with a brownish wash); malar region, 

 foreneck, jugulum, breast, sides and abdomeu, s(mietimes throat also, cinnamon, 

 the middle of the belly lighter (sometimes whitish); flanks (not sides) and axillars 

 dusky, barred with white; lining of wiug dusky, the feathers tipped and bordered 

 with white. Downy young: Glossy black; bill scarlet or orange red in life (whit- 

 ish or pale yellowish in the skin), slightly marked with blackish in front of the 

 nostril and on base of mandible. Young, first plumage: Top and sides of head, 

 neck behind, back anteriorly, rump, breast and sides, dull dead black; inter- 

 scapular region black, with a few of the feathers margined with brownish olive; 

 wing coverts and wings nearly as in adult, a little duller and darker, perhaps; 

 superciliary line obscure ashy. Throat ashy white, finely spotted with black; 

 central region of lower breast and abdomen, with a few of the feathers on the 

 sides, tinged with white; anal region and crissum dull reddish chestnut." 



stretch of 

 Length. luing. Wing. Tciil. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 10.00 14.25 4.20 2.00 1.35 1.50 



Female... 9.25 13.70 3.90 1.80 1.30 1.40 



During the breeding and warm season, this little red breast 

 is found throughout the United States; wintering chiefly in the 

 Southern States and Mexico; casually into Central America. 

 It is similar in habits to its larger cousin, the King Kail, which 

 it closely resembles in both structure and color, but it has a 

 much more extended range, and is at home in salt as well as 

 fresh water swails and marshes. Its nest is placed in thick 

 growths of grass, on low, boggy grounds, quite bulky, made 

 of grass, weeds, etc. Eggs six to ten; they are said to average 

 1.25X.95; measurement of a set collected May 21st, 1878, at 

 Pewaukee, Wisconsin: 1.26x.90, 1.27x.90, 1.27x.90. 1.32x.90, 



