BIRDS OF INDIANA. 679 



April 18, 1876, when he found two, and to know more of this species, 

 he v-as led to return in the spring of 1885. He gave an account of his 

 experience, which will illustrate their comparative abundance, to Mr. 

 Ruthven Deane, who very kindly supplied me with it. Speaking of 

 the Yellow Rail, he says : "I consider them quite rare. I hunted every 

 day for six weeks, especially for Rails, and probably started 1,500 Vir- 

 ginia, 1,500 Sora, 200 King and 5 Yellow. I think that is about the 

 proportion they occur, although with the experience I had, I could 

 probably find more if I should try again. I found the Yellow Rail in 

 a very small part of the marsh, say 50 acres in extent, rather high 

 ground that is not so boggy and wet as where the other species of Rail 

 were plenty. They come very late in April and possibly late in 

 March. The five I have I got between April 2 and 13." 



Submenus CKKCISCUS Cabanis. 



*80. (216). Porzana jamaicensis (G.MEL ). 



Black Bail. 

 Synonym, LITTLE BLACK RAIL. 



Upper parts, blackish-brown, finely speckled and barred with white; 

 the hind neck, dark chestnut; head and under parts, dark slate color, 

 paler or whitening on the throat and blackish on the crown; the lower 

 belly, flanks and under wing and tail coverts, blackish, barred with 

 white; some of quills and tail feathers, with white spots; size, very 

 small. 



Length, 5.00-6.50; wing, 2.50-3.20; bill, .50-.60; depth of bill 

 through base, .20-.25; tarsus, .85-1.00. 



RANGE. America, from Chili and West Indies, north to Massachu- 

 setts, Ontario, Michigan, north Illinois and Oregon. Limits of breed- 

 ing range unknown; probably breeds throughout United States range. 

 Winters from Gulf coast south. 



For nest and eggs, see below. 



Rare summer resident locally. 



This is one of the rarer American birds, by far the rarest of its 

 family. It is only known from two localities in Indiana, in both of 

 which it undoubtedly breeds. April 22, 1888, Mr. Ruthven Deane 

 identified it at English Lake, and that remained the only Indiana 

 record for over six years. July 27, 1894, Jesse Earlle and Alexander 

 Black identified the Black Rail among the. "saw grass" about 

 the "Mill Pond" near Greencastle, Ind. The bird ran, but they 

 could not compel it to fly. Finally they lost it. July 28 they again 

 saw the bird, but could not get it to fly. They searched for it after this, 



