96 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Porzana jamaicensis (Gmel.) 



BLACK RAIL. 



Popular synomym. Little Black Rail. 



Rallus jamaicensis Gmel S. N. i, pt. ii, 1788, 718— Aud. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 359, pi. 349. 

 Ortygometra jamaicensis "Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool."— Aud. Synop. 1839, 2i4; B. 



Am. v, 1842, 157, pi. 308. 

 Porzana jamaicensis Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858.749.— Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No- 

 556— Coues, Key, 1872, 247; Check List, 1873, No. 470; 2d ed. 1882, No. 681 : Birds N. W. 

 1874, 539— Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 576; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 140.-A. O. U. 

 Check List, 1886, No. 216. 

 Hab. Temperate North America, north to Massachusetts, northern Illinois (breeding), 

 Utah, Nevada, and California; south through western South America to Chili; Cuba; 

 Jamaica; Bermudas. 



Sp. Char. Smaller than P. noveboracensis, and the smallest of North American Ral- 

 lidee. Adult: Head, neck, and lower parts dark plumbeous or slate-color, darkest, and 

 often nearly black, on the pileum; abdomen and crissum brownish black, marked with 

 transverse bars of white; nape and back dark chestnut or reddish sepia-brown, the other 

 upper parts brownish black, with small dots and irregular transverse bars of white; prima- 

 ries immaculate dusky, or with small spots of white. Young: Similar, but lower parts dull 

 ashy, the throat inclining to white, and the crown tinged with reddish brown. Downy 

 young: "Entirely bluish black" (Cassin). Bill black; iris red; "feetbright yellowish green" 

 (Audubon 1 ). Total length, about 5.00 inches; wing 2.50-3.20; culmen, .50-.60; tarsus, 85-.90 ; 

 middle toe, 80-1.00. 



Like its relative, the Yellow Rail, the present species is 

 much more numerous than one not familiar with its habits 

 would suppose. Mr. Nelson's memoranda concerning it {Bull. 

 Essex Inst., VIII., 1876, pp. 134, 135) are as follows: 



"Like the preceding, of not very rare occurence. Breeds, Dur- 

 ing the spring of 1875 I saw three specimens in the Calumet 

 Marshes. The first was observed early in May. On the 19th of 

 June, the same season, while collecting with me near the Calumet 

 River. Mr. Frank DeWitt, of Chicago, was fortunate enough to 

 discover a nest of this species containing ten freshly laid eggs. 

 The nest was placed in a deep cup-shaped depression in a per- 

 fectly open situation on the border of a marshy spot, and its 

 only concealment was such as a few straggling carices afforded. 

 It is composed of soft grass blades loosely interwoven in a cir- 

 cular manner. The nest, in shape and construction, looks much 

 like that of a meadow lark. The following are its dimensions 

 in inches: Inside depth, 2.50; inside diameter, 3.25; outside 

 depth, 3.50; outside diameter, 4.50. The eggs are a cream-white 



1 In an adult male, killed June 6, 1879, near Washington, D. C, the fresh colors of the 

 "soft parts" were as follows: Bill entirely deep black; iris bright brick-red; legs and feet 

 brown, much the same color as the wing-coverts. 



