ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRES 137 



YELLOW RAIL (Coturnicops noveboracensis) 

 This Rail is easily recognized in life by its small size, 

 general yellowish appearance, and the white wing-patches. 

 It is so secretive and so hard to flush, that the observer who 

 has seen it in life may well consider himself fortunate. There 

 can be no question that it is overlooked, but all suppositions 

 that it nests anywhere in our area are absolutely unsupported 

 by facts, and are contrary to the bird's known breeding range. 

 It prefers grassy rather than cat-tail marshes, and is more 

 frequent in fall than in spring. 



Long Island. Uncommon fall transient, August 30 to 

 November 11; one winter record, January 17, 1894; apparently 

 rare in spring, only two records; March 31, 1921, one found dead 

 in a yard in Brooklyn and brought to the Brooklyn Museum; 

 and April 29, 1887. 



ORIENT. One record, September 26, 1909. 

 LONG BEACH. One flushed August 30, 1921 (Bicknell). 

 Unknown otherwise in New York State in our area. 

 New Jersey. Recorded by Thurber (1887) as very rare at 

 Morristown on the authority of a Mr. Fairfield. One record at 

 Hackensack, September 30, 1893 (George Richards). The only 

 recent records for northern New Jersey are on the Overpeck 

 Marshes. 



ENGLEWOOD REGION. Noted four times in 1920 between 

 October 4 and November 25; specimen taken October 11 

 (Weber). 



LITTLE BLACK RAIL (Creciscus jamaicensis) Fig. 11 

 One of the least known of North American birds, and 

 harder to observe and study than a field mouse. It seems to 

 prefer grassy meadows. On the few occasions in life I have 

 seen it on the wing, it looked about the size of a Song Sparrow, 

 or half the size of a Sora, which it resembles in shape and 

 general color. In our area it is known definitely only from 

 Long Island. 



Long Island. Seven records; Jamaica, spring of 1879; 

 Canarsie, spring 1884; South Oyster Bay, August 1, 1884. Speci- 

 mens taken in all three cases. Flushed in a grassy marsh on Jones 



