139 



Gen'us PORZANA Yieillot. (Page 136, pi. XLL, figs. 1-3.) 



Species. 



Secondaries without white. 



6'. Wing more than 4.00; above olive-brownish, striped with black. (Sub- 

 genus Porzana.) 

 c\ Neck and breast olive, speckled with white ; flanks brown, narrowly 

 and irregularly barred with white. Adult: Broad superciliary 

 stripe, malar region, chin, and thi'oat, uniform grayish ; ear-eoverts, 

 neck, and chest light haii'-brown, irregularly speckled with white. 

 Young : Superciliary stripe finely speckled with white ; malar 

 region, chin, and throat whitish, speckled with brown, the breast 

 and belly washed with j)ale buff. Length about 8.50, wing 4.20- 

 4.50, culmen .08-72, tarsus 1.20-1.30, middle toe 1.25-1.35. Eggs 

 8-12, 1.32 X -95, dull buffj-, spotted with vandyke-brown and pur- 

 plish graj'. Sab. Northern portion of eastern hemisphere ; occa- 

 sional in Greenland 213. P. porzana (Linn.). Spotted Crake. 



c". Neck and breast without white specks; flanks broadly and roguhirlj- 

 barred with white and slate-color. Adult: Anterior portion of 

 head, with chin and throat, uniform black; top of head olive-brown, 

 with a broad median stripe of black ; rest of head and neck, with 

 chest and breast, plain plumbeous. Young : Lores and superciliary 

 stripe brownish, the chin and throat whitish ; rest of head and 

 neck, with chest and breast, light brownish. Downy young : Uni- 

 form dull black, the shorter down interspersed with numerous lono-, 

 gloss}- black, hair-like filaments; on throat, a tuft, directed for- 

 wards, of stiff", coarse, orange-colored, bristle-like feathers. Length 

 7.85-9.75, wing 4.15-4.30, culmen .75-.90, tarsus 1.25-1.35, middle 

 toe 1.30-1.45. Eggs 8-12, 1.23 X .89, brownish buff", rather sparsely 

 spotted with brown and purplish gray. Hah. Whole of temperate 

 North America, breeding from northern United States northward ; 

 in winter, south to West Indies, Middle America, and northern 



South America 214. P. Carolina (Linn.). Sora. 



6'. Wing less than 3.75 ; above dusky, sometimes speckled with white. (Sub- 

 genus Creciscus Cabanis.) 

 C*. Wing 2.95 or more ; back speckled with white. 



Adult : Head, neck, and lower parts plain dark plumbeous, or 

 slate-color, darker (sometimes nearly black) on top of head ; 

 bellj- and under tail-coverts brownish black, barred with white ; 

 hind-neck and back dark chestnut-brown, marked with small 

 dots and irregular bars of white. Young : Similar to adult, but 

 breast, etc., dull graj-ish, the throat whitish, and top of head 

 tinged with reddish brown. Downy young: "Entirely bluish 

 black." Length 5.00-6.00, wing 2.50-3.20, culmen .50-.60, 



