BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 61 



rump ; the outer upper wing coverts subterminally barred and tipped 

 very narrowly with white; in general like the juvenal of crepitans 

 but darker and more richly colored. 



Natal down. — Above deep black with a greenish gloss; below 

 brownish black with a very faint greenish gloss, which is lacking 

 on the middle of the abdomen, which is the brownest part. 



Adult niale.—Wmg 140.5-163 (150.4) ; tail 58-68 (63.6) ; exposed 

 culmen 54-69 (61.7) ; tarsus 47-55 (50.9) ; middle toe without claw 

 43-52.5 (47.6 mm.).^^ 



Adult female.—SVmg 131-154 (141.3) ; tail 56-66 (60.9) ; exposed 

 culmen 55.5-64 (59.9) ; tarsus 42-52.5 (47.7) ; middle toe without 

 claw 37-47 (43.9 mm. ).^^ 



Range. — Resident in the salt marshes of the Gulf coast from south- 

 western Alabama (Perdido Bay, Grande Batture Island, Bayou La 

 Batre) west through Mississippi (Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, Gulf port) ; 

 Louisiana (New Orleans, Grand Lsland, Vermillion Bay, Octave Pass 

 and Main Pass in the Mississippi Delta, Timbalier Island, Petite 

 Anse Island, Raccoon Pass, Lake Borgne) ; and Texas (Galveston, 

 Port Lavaca, Corpus Christi, Tarpon, Rockport, Peat Island in 

 Laguna Madre, Sabine, southeast of Houston, Brownsville). 



Type locality. — The Rigolets lighthouse between Lake Pontchar- 

 train and Lake Borgne, La. 



[Rallns longirostris] d. var. saturatus Ridgwat, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, v, 1880, 

 140 (Lake Borgne, La.; type now in coll. Brit. Mus. ; ex "Rallus longiros- 

 tris saturatiis Hensliaw, Ms." ) . 



Rallus longirostris saturatus Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., ill, 1880, 201 (Cat. 

 North Amer. Birds, No. 571o) ; Nom. North Amer. Birds, 1881, No. 571a.— 

 CouES, Check-list, ed. 2, 1882, No. 675. — Amebican Ornithologists' Union, 

 Check-list, 1886, No. 211a, part (Louisiana) ; ed. 4, 1931, 96.— Gregory, Auk, 

 xxxviii, 1921, 455 (Gulf port, Harrison County, Miss., Jan. 18, 1919).— 

 Howell, Birds Alabama, 1924, 86; ed. 2, 1928, 86 (distr. ; habits; Ala- 

 bama ) .—Bailey, Birds Florida, 1925, 41 pi. 23 (col. fig.; distr.; Florida).— 

 [Arthur], Birds Louisiana, 1931, 236 (descr. ; status in Louisiana). — 

 Bailey and Wright, Wils. Bull, xliii, 1931, 194 (Snake Island; Alexander 

 Island; Chenier au Tigre, La.). — Peters, Check-list Birds of World, ii, 

 1934, 158. — Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Ixxxiv, 1937, 344 (monogr. ; 

 crit. ; permanent resident from sw. Alabama west to s. Mississippi, 

 s. Louisiana and s. c. Texas; casual to w. Florida) ; Bird Life Louisiana, 

 1938, 200 (common in Gulf coast marshes; many locality records). 



R[allus] l[ongirostris] saturatus Coues, Key North Amer. Birds, ed. 2, 1884, 

 672. 



R{aUus'\ longirostris saturatus Ridgway, Man. North Amer. Birds, 1887, 137, 

 part (Louisiana). 



[Rallns longirost7-is'\ c. saturatus Baird, Brewek, and Ridgway, Water Birds, 

 North Amer., 1, 1884, 359. 



Twenty-three specimens from Louisiana and Texas. 

 ' Sixteen specimens from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. 



