92 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



plain buff or whitish; the lining of the wings is not barred like 

 the flanks, but has dusky and white irregularly mixed, the 

 latter color being on the margins and tips of the feathers. There 

 is apparently more of individual variation in this species than 

 in any of the larger species, scarcely two examples being closely 

 alike. The chin and throat may be distinctly white, or the cin- 

 namon may extend forward entirely to the bill; some specimens 

 have the lores decidedly dusky, others, clear plumbeous, like 

 the auriculars; the crissum is sometimes plain cinnamon, the 

 concealed bases of the feathers dusky, but oftener is white, 

 tinged with cinnamon. 



Almost the same general remarks will apply to this miniature 

 of the King Rail (i?. elegant) as to its larger relation. It is a 

 common summer resident in Illinois, especially northward. In 

 Cook county, Mr. Nelson says it arrives and departs with the 

 R. elegant. He adds: "I have obtained nests with eggs from 

 the 6th of May until the middle of June. This species is found 

 in almost an3 r place where it can find suitable food. I have 

 often flushed it in thickets when looking for woodcock, as well 

 as from the midst of large marshes. The nest can rarely be 

 distinguished from that of the Carolina Rail in form or struct- 

 ure, and is generally placed in a similar location, with the ex- 

 ception that the present species shows a greater preference for 

 dense tufts of grass. I have never seen more than nine eggs in 

 a nest of this species." 



Genus PORZANA Vieillot. 



Porzana Vieill. Analyse, 181(1, 61. Type, Rallus porzana Linn.— Cass, in Baird's B.N. 



Am. li-58, 748. . 

 Creciscus Caban. Jour. fur. Orn. I860, 428. Type, Rallus jamaicensis Gmel. 

 Goturnicops Bonap. "Compt. Rend, xliii, 1856, 509." Type, Fiilica noveboracensis 



Gmel. 



Char. Bill shorter than the head, compressed, straight; nostrils in a wide groove, with 

 a large membrane: wings moderate; primaries longer than tertials; tail short; tarsus 

 about the length of the middle toe; toes long; inner toe slightly shorter than the outer. 

 General form compressed and slender; legs rather robust. 



This genus contains very numerous species, inhabiting both 

 temperate and tropical regions, frequenting marshes and bor- 

 ders of rivers. In the spring and autumn several species migrate 

 in large numbers. 



