674 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS — ALECTORIDES — RA LLIFORMES 



and lining of wings, barred with white and blackish ; belly whitish ; crissum rufescent. Adolt 

 (J 9 : y-dce and central line of throat black, the rest of the throat, line over eye, and espe- 

 cially the breast, more or less intensely slate-gray, the sides of the breast usually also with 

 some obsolete whitish barring and speckling. Young : Without this black, the throat whitish, 

 the breast brown. Length 8.00-9-00; extent 12.00-13.00; wing 4.00-4.50; tail about 2.00; 

 bill 0.67-0.75; tarsus 1.33; middle toe and claw 1.67. Temperate N. Am., exceedingly 

 abundant during the migration in the reedy swamps of the Atlantic States, in August and 

 September, when tens of thousands are killed every year. Breeds from the Middle States 

 northward : winters in the S. States and beyond. Has occurred in Greenland and Europe. 

 The eggs are spotted just like those of the foregoing Ralli, but are readily distinguished by 

 their strong drab ground-color instead of the white or creamy and pale bufi'y of the former. 

 They are rather smaller than those of R. virginianus, and perhaps more obtuse, measuring 

 about 1.20 by 0.90. This is the rail of sportsmen. It is also called sora or soree; the word 

 is colloquial and local. The word * ' ortolan " has a curious connection with this species. 

 It is Italian and French, equal to the Latin hortulanus, relating to a garden: the "ortolan" 

 is Eniberiza hortulana, a bunting, esteemed a great delicacy by gourmands ; and our crake 

 has been called ortolan for no better reason than that it is also edible and sapid ! The same 

 name is frequently applied to the bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, because it is found abun- 

 dantly in the same marshes in the fall, and sells in the same restaurants as the same bird as 

 the rail, the two being brought in together by the gunners. 



680. P. noveboracen'sis. (Low Lat., of Noveboracum : i. e., New York.) Yellow^ Crake. 

 Yellow Rail. Adult $ 9 '■ Above, streaked with blackish and brownish-yellow, thickly 

 marked with narrow white semicircles and transverse bars. Below, pale brownish-yeUow 

 fading on belly, deepest on breast, where many feathers are dark-tipped ; flanks blackish with 

 numerous white bars ; crissum varied with black, white, and rufous. Lining of wings white. 

 A brownish -yellow superciliary line, and dark transocular stripe. Small ; about 6.00 long ; 

 wing 3.25; tail 1.50; bill 0.50; tarsus 0.87; middle toe and claw 1.12. Eastern N. Am., 

 not abundant ; N. to Hudson's Bay : winters in the S. States. Does not appear to have been 

 observed in N. England N. of Mass., nor anywhere W. of the Mississippi Valley, Texas to 

 Minnesota ; but it is not common, is very secretive like other Rails, and readily eludes obser- 

 vation; its distribution may be more general than it is known to be. Eggs about 6, rich, 

 warm, buffy-brown, marked at the great end with a cluster of reddish-chocolate dots and 

 spots; 1.15 by 0.85, to 1.05 by 0.80 ; shape as in the foregoing. 



681. P. jamaicen'sis. (Of Jamaica.) Little Black Crake. Adult $ 9 : Upper parts 

 blackish, finely speckled and barred with white, the hind neck and fore back dark chestnut. 

 Head and under parts dark slate color, paler or whitening on the throat, the lower belly, 

 flanks, and under wing and tail-coverts barred mth white. QuiUs and tail-feathers with 

 white spots. Very small : length about 5.50 ; wing 2.75-3.00; tail 1.35 ; tarsus 0.75. S. and 

 C. America and W. I., not often found in the U. S., being one of the rarest of our bmls. 

 Observed N. to Mass., W. to Kan., and probably occurs across to the Pacific. Eggs from New 

 Jersey are altogether different from those of the sora, or the yeUow crake, being creamy- 

 white, sprinkled all over with fine dots of rich, bright reddish-brown, and with a few spots of 

 some little size at the great end ; most like the more finely-speckled examples of the eggs of 

 the large Ralli ; dimensions 1.05 X 0.80. 



683. P. j. coturni'culus. (Lat. dim. of co^wma;, a quail.) Farrallone Black Crake. Like 

 the last ; rather smaller, the wing 2.50 ; more uniform in color, the back without white specks. 

 Farrallone Islands, coast of California. 

 273. CREX. (Gr. Kpe'l, krex, Lat. crex^ a crake; referring to the creaking notes.) Land Rails. 

 General character oi Porzana. Wings much longer, folding nearly to end of tail Tarsus 

 relatively shorter. Plumage above streaky, but not spotty. 



