BIRDS OF NEW YORK 271 



general is considered degenerate and several species are threatened with 

 extermination. We fear that our own Black rail may be among this ntimber. 



Rallus elegans Audubon 

 King Rail ■ 



Plate 35 



Rallus elegans Audubon. Ornithological Biographies. 1835. 3: 27, pi. 203 

 DeKav- Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 260, fig. 221 

 A. O.'U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 208 



ral'lus, Lat., rail, referring to the rattling cr}'; Elegans, choice, elegant 



Description. Upper parts brown, or brownish black, the feathers 

 broadly margined with tawny olive; wing and tail feathers olive-brown; 

 wing coverts varying from rufous to rich chestnut; top of head and hind 

 neck plain dark brown; throat and line over the eye nearly white; breast 

 and foreneck deep cinnamon or rufous; sides, flanks and axillars brownish 

 black, distinctly barred with white ; under tail coverts white coarsely spotted 

 with blackish; bill dusky brown on top and tip, base and lower mandible 

 mostly yellowish brown ; legs yellowish brown ; eyes reddish brown ; legs and 

 bill tinged with reddish in high plumage. 



Length 17-19 inches; extent 23-25; wing 6-7; tail 2.5; bill 2.1-2.5; 

 tarsus 2.3; middle toe and claw 2.2-2.6; tibia bare about .7-1. 



Field marks. The King rail is distinguished from the Virginia rail by 

 its much greater size; from the Clapper rail by the general olive-brown, 

 instead of grayish color of the upper parts, and the bright rufous instead of 

 buffy breast. It is also a fresh-water species, whereas the Clapper rail 

 inhabits the salt or brackish marshes. 



Distribution. The King rail inhabits the eastern half of the United 

 States, being resident in the Southern States. In New York it is apparently 

 an uncommon summer resident and is most abundant in the great marshes 

 of central and western New York. Dutcher records fotir specimens from 

 Long Island \_see Auk, 5: 176]. From western New York there are several 

 records by Langille, Reinecke, Savage, Posson, Eaton and Bruce. These 

 are mostly fall birds, killed in August, September and October. The 

 earliest date of arrival in the State is March 3d, 1887, when a specimen 

 struck the Montauk Light. The latest dates are November 2d, 1886, 



