THE BIRDS OF NE\V JERSEY. 121 



Quaivk. See Night Heron. 



* Black. This bird is a very rare transient in 

 New Jersey, a few specimens having been taken at times 

 in August and September. They formerly bred in Cape 

 May county. Their breeding location is farther north 

 and they spend their winters in the West Indies and 

 northern south America. The eggs are ten in number, 

 white, with brown spots, and one inch by four-fifths of 

 an inch in size. The bird is five inches in length, the 

 head and breast being slate color; back, wings and tail, 

 dark brown, transversely barred with rows of white 

 spots; belly, slate color, with white bars and spots. 



Rail, Slue. See Florida Gallinule. 

 Rail, Carolina. See Sora. 



Rail, 1'lttiwr. tJfiud Hen* Salt Water Warsh 

 Hen, /ffeadow Clapper , or Big Rail. The Mud Hen 



of the New Jersey laws. Length, fourteen inches; ex- 

 tent, eighteen inches; bill, two and two-fifths inches long, 

 slightly curved, pointed, grooved and of a reddish brown 

 color; above, greenish gray, feathers rather darker in the 

 center; under surface, dull white, tinged with buff on the 

 neck and sides, flanks and feathers under the tail barred 

 with white; long wing feathers, dark brown, lining of the 

 wing barred with white. The males and females are 

 nearly alike, the plumage of the female not being so dis- 

 tinctly marked as that of the male. The young birds of 

 the first year are browner and richer in color than the old 

 birds. 



The nest is built in the salt meadows; it is lined with 

 dry grass, arched and knit together at the top in order to 

 conceal it. Mating begins about the middle of May. 

 The eggs are generaUy ten in number, of a pale gray color, 

 sprinkled with small spots of reddish purple, obtuse at the 

 small end, and measure one and a half inches by one inch. 



