SPOTTED CRAKE. 147 



slate- colour above the eyes ; cheeks, sides and back of the 

 neck olive-brown, spotted with white ; back, dark olive- 

 brown, each feather black in the centre, and streaked longi- 

 tudinally with some narrow lines of white; rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and tail-feathers black in the middle, margined 

 with clove-brown, and spotted with white ; wing-coverts 

 olive-brown, spotted with white ; quill-feathers dark brown, 

 with a white streak to the outer web of the first, and faint 

 white mottlings on that of the second ; tertials transversely 

 streaked with narrow lines of white ; chin, slate-brown ; 

 neck and breast dull brown, spotted with white ; belly and 

 vent dirty white; under tail-coverts buff; sides, flanks, 

 and under wing-coverts, greyish-brown, barred with white ; 

 legs and toes yellowish-green ; the claws brown. 



The female is slightly smaller, and duller in colour. The 

 young have the sides of the head, the throat, and the abdo- 

 men much marked with white, and the spots are smaller and 

 less defined, on a generally duller ground. The whole 

 length of an adult bird is about nine inches. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather four 

 inches and a half. 



A variety in the collection of the late M. Hardy, of Dieppe, 

 had the front portion of the neck suffused with a bright 

 rose-colour. 



A specimen of the Carolina Crake (Porzana Carolina), 

 shot by Mr. H. S. Eyre, in October, 1864, on the banks of 

 the Kennet, near Newbury, Berks, was exhibited at the 

 meeting of the Zoological Society, February 14th, 1865, by 

 Professor Newton, who remarked upon the powers of endur- 

 ance in their flight of various members of the family 

 RallidfSf and upon the occurrence of this species on a single 

 occasion in Greenland (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 196, and Zool. 

 p. 9540). The adult American representative may be dis- 

 tinguished from the European bird by its black face. On 

 the strength of a single occurrence it seems inexpedient to 

 add this species to the list of British birds. 



