2IO 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



white bars ; lores and a line through and back of eye, 

 dusky ; wing-quills and tail, dusky with some white 

 spots. Downy Young: Black. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A very well-made and 

 deeply cupped structure of fine grasses and weed stems; 

 well concealed in a depression of the ground. Eggs : 

 6 to 9, white, sparsely spotted with small chestnut dots. 



Distribution. — Eastern North .'Kmerica ; breeds from 

 southern Ontario and Massachusetts south to Kansas, 

 Illinois, and South Carolina; winters from Texas east 

 through the Gulf States and south to Jamaica and 

 Guatemala ; casual in Bermuda. 



The Black Rail runs swiftly, like a mouse, 

 tlirough the herbage, and seldom flies, although in 

 migration it has reached the Bermuda Islands. 

 Gosse quotes a Mr. Robinson who says that in 

 Jamaica it is so foolish as to hide its head and 

 cock up its tail, thinking itself safe, when it is 

 easily taken alive. 



Edward Howe Fdrbusii, in Game Birds, 

 ]]^Ud-Fo%d and Shore Birds. 



The Black Rail, the smallest Rail in America, 

 is believed to be a very rare bird in New England, 

 where it has been recorded only from Maine, 

 Connecticut, and Massachusetts, in which States 

 it possibly breeds. So far as our present infor- 

 mation goes, Massachusetts appears to be near 

 the northern limit of its breeding range on the 

 Atlantic coast, but it may go farther north. 



Records are received with caution, as the 

 black, downy young of larger Rails are mistaken 

 for Black Rails. Wayne appears to be the first 

 obser\-er who has actually seen the female Black- 

 Rail on her nest in the United States, and re- 

 corded it. The nest was in an oat field, and the 

 standing grain, where the nest was, had been cut. 

 The bird is so secretive that, as related by 

 Wayne, two men and a dog searched four hours 

 for the male in the oat field before it could be 

 secured, although it was calling incessaiitly. This 

 bird may not be as rare as it is rated. 



C"Urtcsy ot Am. Mus. Psat. Hist. 

 BLACK RAIL 



PURPLE GALLINULE 

 lonornis martinicus ( Linnicas) 



A. O. U. Number 218 ^'ce Color I'latc 27 



Other Name. — Sultana (Jamaica). 



General Description. — Length, 14 inches. Head, 

 neck, and under parts, jiurplish ; upper parts, olive- 

 green. Head with frontal shield extending from base 

 of bill and covering forehead ; toes slender and with- 

 out lobes ; bill shorter than head. 



Color. — Adults : Head, neck, and under parts, 

 deep pnrplish-hhic : abdomen black; under tail-coverts 

 white: back and upper parts in general, olive-green; 

 wing-coverts, blue-edged ; wing- and tail-feathers 

 dusky with outer webs bluish-green ; frontal shield, 

 pale cobalt; basal half of bill, carmine, front half yel- 

 low; a narrow white streak on side of face at base of 

 bill; legs, chrome-yellow; iris. red. Immature: Upper 



parts, washed with brownish; under parts, mottled with 

 white. Downy Young: Glossy-black with numerous 

 white hair-like feathers on head. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Placed in reeds over water ; 

 constructed of dead rushes. Eggs: 6 to 10, creamy, 

 thinly spotted and dotted with brown and lavender. 



Distribution. — Tropical and subtropical America ; 

 breeds from Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina 

 south through Mexico and the West Indies to Ecuador 

 and Paraguay ; winters from Texas, Louisiana, and 

 Florida southward ; irregularly north in summer to 

 .'\rizona, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ontario, Quebec, Nova 

 Scotia, and New Brunswick; accidental in England 

 and Bermuda. 



