RALLUS. 137 



a platform -like structure of dried grasses, sedges, etc., supported in tufts of grass 

 or sedges in marshes or ponds. Eggs 6-15, white, buffy white, dull buff, or pale 

 brownish buff, rather sparingly spotted and speckled with rusty brown and 

 purplish gray. 



a 1 . Larger (wing more than 5.00). 



b l . Ground-color of upper parts grayish (varying from ash-gray to olive- 

 gray). 



c 1 . Breast, etc., pale cinnamon-buff, tinged with ashy across chest ; darker 

 stripes on back, etc., usually indistinct (sometimes almost obsolete) ; 

 flanks, etc., grayish brown, broadly barred with white, but without 

 darker bars ; length 13.50-15.60, wing^ 5.40-6.30 (5.79), culmen 2.10- 

 2.60 (2.36), depth of bill at narrowest part .22-.30, at base .47-.50 

 (.49), tarsus 1.85-2.27 (2.00), middle toe 1.70-2.00 (1.83). Eggs 1.72 

 X 1.20. Hab. Salt-water marshes of Atlantic coast, north, regularly, 

 to Long Island, casually to Massachusetts. 



211. R. longirostris crepitans (GMEL.). Clapper Rail. 

 c 2 . Breast, etc., deeper cinnamon ; darker stripes on back, etc., very dis- 

 tinct ; flanks, etc., darker or deeper brown, more narrowly barred 

 with white, and with more or less distinct narrow dusky bars bor- 

 dering the white ones. 



d 1 . Above ash-gray, broadly and sharply striped with blackish brown 

 or brownish black ; breast, etc., dull cinnamon, strongly shaded 

 with olive-gray laterally ; sides of neck olive-gray, shaded with 

 ash-gray, this passing into slate-gray on sides of head, especi- 

 ally behind eye ; ground-color of flanks, etc., darker brown ; 

 length about 12.00-14.00, wing 5.60-5.70 (5.65), culmen 2.10- 

 2.45 (2.27), least depth of bill .22-.2S (.25), tarsus 1.95-2.00 

 (1.97), middle toe 1.75-1.80 (1.78). Hab. Coast of Louisiana ; 



western Florida ? 211a. R. longirostris saturatus HENSH. 



Louisiana Clapper Rail. 



d?. Above olive-gray or grayish olive, broadly, but usually not sharply, 

 striped with blackish brown ; breast, etc., uniform deep cinna- 

 mon, not strongly shaded with gray laterally, the sides of the 

 neck dull grayish cinnamon, and sides of head without pure 

 gray ; ground-color of flanks, etc., lighter brown ; length 17.00- 

 18.00, wing 6.20-6.70 (6.63), culmen 2.25-2.50 (2.40), least depth 

 of bill .30-.35 (.33), depth at base .50, tarsus 2.10-2.30 (2.18), 

 middle toe 1.90-2.15 (2.04). Eggs 1.75 X 1-24. Hab. Salt-water 

 marshes of Pacific coast (Lower California to Oregon). 



210. R. obsoletus EIDGW. California Clapper Rail. 



6*. Ground color of upper parts distinctly brownish (varying from deep raw- 

 umber brown or olive-brown to fulvous-brown), very distinctly, and 

 usually sharply, striped with brownish black. 



c 1 . Flanks, etc., with the lighter (pure white) bars very broad (averaging 



18 



