■BMHBI 



144 



RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS. 



The Spotted Crake {21t' Porzana porzaim) — an (Jld World representa- 

 tive of our Sora— is recorded aa •occusional in Greenland." 



215. Porzana noveboracensis (^/ //««'/.). Yellow Rail. (Sec Fig. 

 22 h.) All. — Upper jiartn black, tlie tVatliers bonlered with ochrace()Us-l)utf 

 and with from one to tiiree narrow white bars; breast oehraeeous-butl; mid- 

 dle of the belly wliitc ; side.s and lower belly black or brownisli, barred with 

 white. L., 7-00; VV., 3-40 ; Tar., -'Jo; B., b->. 



JiaiKje. — "Eastern Nortii America from Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay 

 west to Utah and Nevada; no e.\traliniital record except Cuba and the Ber- 

 mudas" (A. O. U.). 



Washington, rare T. V., Mcli. and Oct. Loni,' Lsland, uncommon T. V. 

 Cambridj^e, rare T. V., Apl. and May ; Oct. and Nov. 



A<»<, on the ground in grassy marslies. /v/ys, si.x or more, creamy buff, 

 densely sprinkled and si)eckled on larger eu^ with rusty brown, 1-12 x -83 

 (Uid-w.). 



This little Rail inhabits marshes with others of its family. With 

 them it seems to know that it can escape its enemies much more easily 

 by hilling in the tangled grasses of its home than by taking wing, and 

 it Hies only to avoid actual capture. It can be hunted successfully, 

 therefore, only with dogs. 



Nuttall describes its notes as "an abrupt and cackling cry, 'Art^A; 

 ^kri'k, 'krek, 'krek, 'kiik, Ic'kh" and compares them to the croaking of 

 the tree frog. 



S16. Porzana jamaicensls {(rind.). Little Black Rail. Ad.— 



Head, breast, and ujiper belly slate-color; lower belly, back, and wings 

 brownish 'lack, barred or spotted with white; nape dark reddish brown. 

 L., 5-00; W., 2-80; Tar., \sO ; B., MIO. 



Rnnfje. — "Temperate North America, nortli to Massachusetts, northern 

 Illiiiois, and Oregon; south to West Indies and in western South i^ '"erica to 

 Chili" (A. O. U.). Probably breeds throughout its North America . ^3. 



Washington, rare T. V., several in Sept. Long Island, rare T. V. 



iVi.s'^, of grasses, on tlu' ground in marslies ^V/;/.v, ten, white, thinly sprin- 

 kled with redJisl) brown dots, more numerous at the larger end, I'OO x "80 

 (Nelson, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, i, 187(), p. 43). 



Tliis bird is about as diHicuit to observe as a field mouse. It is 

 said to prefer grassy meadows, where, like otliers of its family, it never 

 flies when it can escape by running or hiding. It is ipparently not 

 common. The only description of its notes I know of is given by Mr. 

 INIarch, of Jamaica, who, as quoted by Dr. V>\\ ,ver, writes its call as 

 " rhi-cki-cro-croo-rroo, several times repeated in sharp, high-toned 

 notes, so as to be audible to a considerable distance." 



The Corn Crake {317. f^rex crex), a bin! of Kurope and northern Asia, is 

 casual in Ureenhind, Bermudas, and eastern Nortli .\nierica. It > about tlic 

 si/e of a Clapper Rail, but has a bill no larger than that of the Sora. The 



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