RAILS 137 



black with white streaks ; upper parts grayish brown streaked with wedge- 

 like marks of buffy white or white ; under parts white or whitish streaked 

 with darker. Wing 10.50 to 12.50 ; culmen 3.00 ; tarsus 3.48. 



Geog. Dist. — Temperate and tropical North America, breeding from Illinois 

 and South Carolina south to Brazil ; casual north to Colorado, Massachusetts 

 and Maine. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; one taken at Back Cove, Deering, April 

 13, 1901, was brought me in the flesh, and was an adult female in full plum- 

 age, being now in the collection of Dr. Brock, (Lord); a female was shot at 

 Thompson's Point, Portland, April 11, 1906, and is now in my collection, 

 (Norton, Auk 1906, p. 457). 



This species has only been twice taken in Maine, each time 

 under circumstances which might tend to indicate that it strag- 

 gled northward in company with its relatives the Black-crowned 

 Night Herons. Its nesting habits are not different from those 

 of the Black-crowned species, but it has a greater tendency to 

 breed in smaller colonies or by solitary pair. Four or five pale 

 blue eggs are laid which cannot be distinguished with certainty 

 from those of its near relative. 



Five eggs from Lake St. John, Louisiana, May 27, 1896, 

 were placed in a nest of sticks and twigs which was flat and 

 frail and was placed in a low willow tree in a marsh. These 

 eggs measure 1.95 x 1.48, 1.98 x 1.48, 2.05 x 1.50, 2.05 x 1.52, 

 2.05 X 1.51. A quite large colony was nesting there. 



Order PALUDICOLvE. Cranes, Rails, etc. 



Suborder RALLL Rails, Gallinules, Coots, etc. 

 Family RALLID^, Rails, Gallinules and Coots. 



Key to the species of RALLID.(E. 



A. Wing under 3.50. 



1. Back brownish black, the feathers margined with buffy and barred 



with white. Yellow Rail. 



2. Back brownish black with small rounded spots of white. Black 



Rail. (Hypothetical List). 



B. Wing over 3.50. 



1. Toes with lobe like flaps. American Coot. 



2. Toes not having lobe like flaps. 



