274 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Rallus virginianus Linnaeus 

 Virginia Rail 



Plate 25 



Rail II s virt^jinianus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. i: 263 



pt 2, p. 261 , fig. 223 



DeKav. Zool. N. Y. 

 A. O. U. Check List. 



1844. 

 Ed. 2. 



1895. No. 2 12 

 Virginia' nils, of Virginia 



Description. In color very similar to the King rail; but the sides 

 of the head bluish ash; legs more reddish. Immature: Darker, more 

 or less blackish below becoming whitish on throat and central line of the 

 bell}'. Downy young: Uniform glossy black as in all the genus Rallus. 



Distribution and migration. The Virginia rail is a fairly common 

 summer resident on the marshes of Long Island and central and western 

 New York, and undoubtedly breeds in ever}' county of the State, with 

 the exception of the Adirondack region. Along the smaller streams and 



inarshes it is less common, 

 but everywhere is more 

 abundant than is popular- 

 ly' believed. It arrives 

 from the south in April, 

 from the lothtothe 27th, 

 and leaves for the south 

 late in October, passing 

 the winter in the South- 

 ern States, Cuba and 

 Central America. The 

 breeding range seems to 

 be confined to the upper 

 austral, transition and 

 lower boreal zones. 

 The Virginia rail, or little Mud hen, inhabits the grassy marshes, keeping 

 rather more on the landward side than the Bora, and usually placing its 

 nest on dryer ground and rarely in the flooded marshes. It is well concealed 

 in the brush, or dense grass, and is composed of dead flags or grasses, piled 



Virginia rail on nest. (From Bird Lot'^ Photo by E. G. Tabor) 



