RALLIDJE THE BAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS. 93 



We have not at hand the required material for defining the 

 exact limits of the genus Porzana, so far as its American repre- 

 sentatives are concerned. Without, therefore, considering any 

 of the extralimital species, it may suffice to say that of the 

 three which occur in North America, one (P. Carolina) is a very 

 near relative of the type of the genus (P. porzana of Europe), 

 while the other two are perhaps sufficiently different to justify 

 generic separation. The three species which occur in eastern 

 North America may be distinguished as follows: 



A. Above russet- olive, with black blotches and irregular, partly longitudinal, streaks of 



white. (Porzana.) 



1. P. Carolina. Neck and breast without white specks : throat blackish, and sides of 



head and neck plumbeous in adult; throat white, sides of head and neck, with 

 chest and breast, fulvous-olive, in young; flanks broadly barred with white and 

 slate-color. Wing, 4.15-4.30; culmen, .75-.90; tarsus. 1.25-1.35; middle toe, 1.30- 

 1.45. Hal). North and Middle America. 



B. Above ochraceous, with broad black stripes and narrow transverse white bars ; sec- 



ondaries white, forming a conspicuous patch on the extended wing. (Coturni- 

 cops.) 



2. P. noveboracensis. Head, neck, and breast ochraceous ; flanks dusky, barred with 



whitish; crissum cinnamon; lining of wing and axillars white. Wing, 3.00-3.60; 

 culmen, .50-.60; tarsus, .95-1. 00; middle toe, .90-1.00. Hob. North America. 



C. Above blackish brown, speckled with white. (Creciscus.) 



3. P. jamaicensis. Nape dusky chestnut or sepia-brown ; lower parts slate-color or 



dark plumbeous (the throat sometimes whitish), the posterior portions narrowly 

 barred with white. Wing, 2-.50-3.20; culmen, .50-.60; tarsus, .75-.90; middle toe, 

 .85-. 95. Hdb. Temperate and tropical America. 



Porzana Carolina (Linn.) 

 SOEA. 



Popular synonyms. Bora Kail; Carolina Eail; Common Bail; Ortolan (Potomac River). 

 Rallus carolinus LINN. S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758, 153; ed. 12. i, 1766, 263. Sw. & RICH. F. B.-A. 



ii. 1831, 403. AUD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1S35. 251; v, 1839, 572, pi. 233. 

 Rallus (Orex) carolinus BONAP. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 230. NUTT. Man. ii, 1834, 209. 

 Ortygometra Carolina BONAP. List, 1838, 53. AUD. Synop. 1839, 213; B. Am. v, 1842, 145, 



pi. 306. 



Porzana Carolina CASS. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 749. BAIED, Cat. N. Am. B. No. 

 555. COUES. Key, 1872, 273; Check List, 1873, No. 468; 2d ed. 1882, No. 679; Birds 

 N. W. 1874, 538.-RIDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 574; Man. N. Am. B., 1887, 139.- 

 A. 0. U., Check List, 1886, No. 214. 



HAB. The whole of temperate North America, but most common in the Eastern Prov- 

 ince; West Indies in general ; whole of Middle America, south to Colombia and Venezuela; 

 accidental in Greenland and Europe; Bermudas (numerous in migrations). Breeds chiefly 

 in the northern parts of its range. 



