116 HISTORY OF THE 



gatiou consists of a finer and sparser sprinkling of the dusky and brown; on 

 the tertials and ends of the secondaries, the reddish (a sort of cinnamon shade) 

 forms the ground color, and is thickly sprinkled with irregular dusky dottings 

 and zigzags; pectoral tufts nearly uniform dark brown, the feathers with broad 

 lateral borders of clear yellowish ochraceous; pileum rusty brown, darker ante- 

 riorly, changing gradually backward into the greenish olive gray of the nape; 

 sides of the head and neck yellowish ochraceous; a malar stripe of dark ferru- 

 ginous, changing posteriorly into a very conspicuous stripe of blue black (or in 

 some specimens dull grayish) down each side of the neck (the stripes are almost 

 obsolete on a female in the 'Goss Ornithological Collection' shot at Neosho 

 Falls, Kansas, August 17th, 1875); chin and throat white, with a very narrow 

 medial dusky streak, suffused with ochraceous; foreneck pale buff, with sharply 

 defined stripes of cinnamon brown edged with a black line; lower parts pale 

 buff, with narrower brownish stripes; tibise and crissum plain light creamy buff, 

 primary coverts and primaries dark slate, tipped with pale reddish ochraceous, 

 finely, but not densely, sprinkled with dusky;" upper mandible olivaceous black, 

 the tomiuin (broadly) lemon yellow; lower mandible pale lemon yellow, deeper 

 basally, with a stripe of dusky brownish along the posterior part of the tomium; 

 lores and eyelids lemon yellow, the former divided longitudinally by a medium 

 stripe of dusky olive', from the eye to the base of the upper mandible; iris clear 

 light sulphur yellow next the pupil, shading exteriorly into orange brownish, 

 this encircled narrowly with black; legs and feet bright yellowish green; claws 

 pale brown, dusky toward points. Young: Similar to the adult, but more red- 

 dish, the mottling coarser, and with a tendency to form ragged transverse 

 bars, especially on. the posterior upper parts." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 27.00 43.50 11.25 4.00 3.60 3.00 



Female... 25.00 41.00 10.25 3.50 3.50 2.80 



This widely-distributed species inhabit the moist lands, marshes 

 and bogs. A wild, solitary bird, nocturnal or rather crepuscu- 

 lar in habits, resting during the day hidden in the tall grasses, 

 reeds and rushes; and its presence is not generally known, save 

 to those familiar with its loud, booming note, " Pump-a-lunk, " 

 occasionally heard during the early breeding season, and to the 

 hunter or occasional visitant of its secluded and uninviting 

 haunts; and as the birds skulk and hide, only taking wing when 

 suddenly started, or forced to do so, they are usually thought 

 to be rare in localities where in fact they are quite common. 

 When frightened, these birds rise with a guttural "Kawk," and 

 at all times in a loose, awkward manner, with dangling legs and 

 outstretched neck, but when flying any distance the head is 

 drawn down close to the breast, and the legs stretched out in 



