RAILS. 219 



183. BLACK RAIL. 



Our smallest Rail, 5.50, very dark- 

 brown above, spotted and transversly banded 

 with white; back and neck chestnut-red; 

 sides of head and under portions, blue-ash, 

 banded on abdomen and under tail coverts 

 with white. Breeds throughout temperate 

 N. A., north to Mass., northern 111. and 

 Ore.; winters from Fla., south through the 

 W. I. to Guatemala. South in Sept.; north 

 in April. Very rare everywhere. 



184. CORN CRAKE. 



Larger, 10.50; dark-brown above, mot- 

 tled with yellowish; upper and under tail 

 coverts, rusty-red; beneath, blue-gray; flanks 

 barred with reddish. Europe and northern 

 Asia; casual in Greenland, Bermuda and 

 eastern N. A. 



GALLINULES. 



Rather larger, rail-like, but with stouter 

 bodies; toes, long and narrow; bill, shorter 

 than head with a frontal shield on fore- 



