THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 123 



female is a little paler than the male and the young fre- 

 quently have more or less black mixed with the rusty 

 color of the breast. 



The nest is built of old wet grass and rushes in the 

 bottom of a tuft of grass. There are two broods a year, 

 one early in May and another late in June. The eggs are 

 from six to ten in number; they are one and one-fifth by 

 three-quarters of an inch in size, of a dirty white or pale 

 cream, sprinkled with spots of reddish or pale purple, 

 these spots being more numerous near the larger end. 



The birds breed in North America as far north as Hud- 

 son's Bay, frequenting the fresh marshes near the coast. 

 They arrive in New Jersey about the first of May and 

 leave in October, being seen very rarely in winter. 



Their food consists of snails, worms, larvae of insects, 

 which they take from the mud, together with some vege- 

 table matter. 



Rail, Yellow. This bird is a rare transient in New 

 Jersey, although a few specimens are occasionally taken, 

 generally in the fall. They breed in the northern part of 

 the United States and as far north as Hudson's Bay and 

 in the winter migrate south as far as Cuba. The length 

 of the bird is seven inches and the bill is half an inch in 

 length. The upper parts are black, mottled with light 

 yellow and transversely barred with narrow white bars; 

 breast, buff; belly, whitish; lower belly and flanks, dark 

 brown with white bars. They nest on the ground in 

 marshes; the eggs number from six to nine, are of a light 

 yellow, with numerous spots of brown, and one and one- 

 fifth by four-fifths of an inch in size. 



Rain Crow. See Cuckoo. 



Raven. Length, from twenty-two to twenty-six 

 inches; extent, about four feet; bill, a little over an inch 

 in length, large and strong, and of a shining black. 

 The plumage of the bird is a deep black, with steel-blue 



