534 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



tance that it was out of the question to shoot. Eight specimens in 

 all were secured, the last on October 29. Seldom were more than 

 two seen at once, but they were always flushed at about the same spot, 

 and I am inclined to think that I secured nearly all of them. The 

 species was also met with on April 28, May 3, and October 4, 1902, 

 September 17, 1903, and April 23, 1904." In view of the above 

 facts it would not be surprising if this rail should be found nesting 

 here. Two of the specimens taken by Mr. Bacon are in the United 

 States National Museum (Biological Survey Collection), while most 

 of the remaining birds are preserved in the Carnegie Museum. The 

 series exhibits considerable variation in plumage, and seems to show 

 that the males are larger than the females. Two fall specimens, evi- 

 dently immature, are very dark-colored, and have the crown and sides 

 of the head prominently spotted with white. 



\_Porzana jamaicensis. Little Black Rail. 



Rare as the Yellow Rail is accounted to be in most localities, this diminutive spe- 

 cies is rarer still. Erie is possibly a little too far north for it to be found ; but so 

 little is known concerning the exact limits of its distribution that it may yet be 

 detected here.] 



53. Gallinula galeata. Florida Gallinule. 



Careful search was made for this species in 1900 by our party, but 

 without success. However, Mr. Bacon enters it as a rare and irregular 

 spring and fall transient, having recorded it on the following dates, 

 in every case on the Peninsula: May 28, 1892, August 29, 1894, 

 September 3, 1900, August 30, 1901, and October 2, 1902. One of 

 these birds was found swimming among the wild rice, the others were 

 flushed along the shore of the ponds. In addition to the above 

 records, a specimen was brought Mr. Bacon October 7, 1891, which 

 was killed in the fields just east of the city. It seems strange that 

 this bird is so rare here, and has not been found breeding, when 

 Dr. F. W. Langdon has noted it as such a common surnmer resident 

 at the head of Sandusky Bay, Ohio (^Journal Cinciuiiati Society of 

 Natural History, III, 1880, 228). 



54. Fulica americana. American Coot. 



So far as known the Coot is a transient visitant only, uncommon in 

 the spring, but quite abundant in the fall. It mainly frequents the 

 ponds, where it skulks among the aquatic plants, less frequently the 

 marshy shores of the Peninsula and the waters of the bay. Usually 

 it is found singly or in small parties, which are by no means averse to 



