274 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Rallus virginianus Linnaeus 

 Virginia Rail 



Plate 2S 



Rallus virginianus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. 1:263 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 261, fig. 223 

 A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 212 



Virginia' nus, of Virginia 

 Description. In color very similar to the King rail; but the sides 

 of the head bluish ash; legs more reddish. Immature: Darker, more 

 or less blackish below becoming whitish on throat and central line of the 

 belly. Downy young: Uniform glossy black as in all the genus Rallus. 



Distribution and migration. The Virginia rail is a fairly common 

 summer resident on the marshes of Long Island and central and western 

 New York, and undoubtedly breeds in every county of the State, with 

 the exception of the Adirondack region. Along the smaller streams and 



marshes it is less common, 

 but everjrwhere is more 

 abundant than is popular- 

 ly believed. It arrives 

 from the south in April, 

 from the lothtothe 27th, 

 and leaves for the south 

 late in October, passing 

 the winter in the South- 

 em States, Cuba and 

 Central America. The 

 breeding range seems to 

 be confined to the upper 



Virginia rail on nest. (From Bird Lore. Photo by E. G. Tabor) 



austral, transition 

 lower boreal zones. 



and 



The Virginia rail, or little Mud hen, inhabits the grassy marshes, keeping 

 rather more on the landward side than the Sora, and usually placing its 

 nest on dryer ground and rarely in the flooded marshes. It is well concealed 

 in the brush, or dense grass, and is composed of dead flags or grasses, piled 



