152 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



Mr. L. Whitney Watkins, of Manchester, has in his collection the skin 

 of a Sandhill Crane which weighed 12^ pounds. It is one of two which were 

 killed at Fay's Lake, Jackson county, about 3 a. m., August 29, 1893, while 

 "roosting" in water eight inches deep on a bar in the lake. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Head, crown, and sides of head to level of eyes, naked or thinly covered with 

 small "hairs" (really minute feathers); chin, cheeks, and auricular region, pure white; 

 rest of head and neck bluish gray, becoming browner on lower neck; rest of upper surface, 

 including wings and tail, brownish gray, each feather margined or^ tipped with dull white, 

 or, on the wing-coverts, with rusty-brown ; under parts clear gray to brownish gray, mottled 

 with whitish, each feather having a wide margin of grayish-white; primaries slaty-black 

 with pure white shafts; tail-feathers ashy brown to nearly black. Bill and feet black; 

 iris yellow. Sexes alike. Immature: Similar, but much browner, the upper parts, and 

 especially the upper surface of wings, often mainly rusty-brown; reddish margins on 

 many of the feathers all over the body. Length 40 to 48 inches; wing 21 to 22.50; 

 culmen 5.15 to 6; tarsus 9.90 to 10.65. 



Family 23. RALLID^E. Rails. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



A. Forehead with a bony or membranous plate or shield. B, BB, 

 B. Toes with conspicuous lobes or flaps. Coot. No. 85, 

 BB. Toes without lobes or flaps. C, CC. 



C. Plumage mostly slate color, flanks with at least a few distinct 



white streaks. Florida Gallinule. No. 84. 

 CC. Plumage mostly bluish-purple and olive-green, no white 

 streaks on flanks. Purple Gallinule. No. 83. 

 AA. Forehead without trace of plate or shield. D, DD. 

 D. Bill (culmen) more than an inch long. E, EE. 



E. Bill two inches or more, wing about six inches. King Rail. 



No. 79. 

 EE. Bill less than two inches, wing less than four and one half 

 inches. Virginia Rail. No. 80. 

 DD. Bill less than an inch long. F, FF. 



F. Bill f inch or more, wing 4 inches or more. Sora; Carolina 



Rail. No. 81. 

 FF. Bill less than f inch; wing less than 4 inches. Yellow Rail. 

 No. 82. 



79. King Rail. Rallus elegans And. (208) 



Synonyms: Fresh-water Marsh Hen, Red-breasted Rail. — Rallus elegans, Aud., 1834' 

 and most authors. — Rallus crepitans, Wils., 1813 (but not of others). 



Figure 4^. 



The cinnamon breast, barred flanks, and red eye are common to this 

 species and the Virginia Rail, the latter, however, being very much smaller. 

 Compare the measurements. 



Distribution. — Fresh-water marshes of the eastern United States, north 



