292 The Water-fowl Family 



An almost precisely similar species is described 

 from a single specimen taken on the Farallone 

 Islands, California. The Farallone rail (Porzana 

 coturniculus) is somewhat smaller, and the back 

 is without the white specks noticeable in P. 

 jamaicensis. 



This species is the smallest of the North Ameri- 

 can rails and has quite an extensive distribution, 

 having been taken in Central America, the West 

 Indies, and generally throughout the United 

 States to the northern border. Its small size 

 and exceedingly secretive habits undoubtedly go 

 far to explain the apparent rarity. Rather than 

 take to wing, this bird will sometimes submit to 

 capture, hiding its head and cocking up its tail. 

 The flight is feeble and laborious, poorly sus- 

 tained, and only for a few yards, when it drops 

 back into the grass. The note is said to be a high- 

 pitched chi-cro-croo. There are instances of the 

 little black rail having been kept alive for a few 

 days in captivity, under these circumstances 

 moping about with head drawn in, occasionally 

 moving in a deliberate way. Of its migrations 

 we know but little. More specimens have been 

 taken in the West Indies and southern United 

 States than farther north. There are instances of 

 its occurrences near Philadelphia, in New Eng- 

 land, northern Illinois, and eastern Oregon, and 

 in all of these localities there has been conclusive 



