RALLID.E — THE RAILS — RALLUS. 359 



Rallies longirosli-is crepitans, Kiutiw. Bull. Xutt. Oni. Club, V. no. 3, ,July, 1S80, 140; Nom. N. 



Am. B. 1881, no. 571. — CouES, Check List, 2(1 ed. 1882, no. 673. 

 Rallus longiroslris (nee Bobd. ), CouEs, Key, 1872, 273; Check List, 1873, uo. 465; B. N. W. 



1874, 536 (excl. syu. pt). 



c. saturatus. 



Rallies longiroslris saluralus, " Henshaw, .M.S." l!n>ii\v. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, V. uo. 3, .July, 

 1880, 140 ; Xom. N. Am. B. 1882, uo. 571 <'. — CouEs, Check List, 2il ei.l. 18S2, no. 075. 



il. carlbceus. 



Rallus crepitans and R. Innfjiroslris, Aucr. (:ill West Indian ret'erenci's). 



Rallus longiroslris cariba-us, UlDCW. Bull. A'utt. (Irn. Club, V. no. 3, .luly, 18S0, 140. 



n.\B. Salt-water mai'shes of the Atlantic and Uulf coasts of the United States, north — 

 casually to Massacliusett.s, regularly to Connecticut ; West Indies, and coast of Northern South 

 America, to Brazil. The geographical races limited as foUow.s : lonrjirvstris to Northern South 

 America (Cayenne to Bahi.a) ; caribecus to the West Indies ; saturatiis to the Gulf coast of the 

 United States (Louisiana to Florida), and crepitans to the Atlantic coast of the United States. 



Sp. Char. Adult : Above, olivaceous-gray, or sometimes even asliy, usually very obsoletely 

 striped, sometimes uniform, but, more rarely (more generally in southem specimens), striped with 

 olivaceous or even dusky ; crown ami nape uniform brown or dusky ; a brownish white sujiraloral 

 stripe ; side of the head chietly grayish (sometimes inclining to ashy), darker on the lores, and 



R. longiroslris crepitans. 



becoming pale cinnamon or buff on the malar region ; chin and throat white ; rest of the neck, 

 with jugulum and breast, pale cinnamon-buff, olivaceous-buff, or, more rarely, dull cinnamon, 

 tinged with olive ; flanks ami sides piale olivaceous-gray or brownish slate, barred with white (as 

 in ohsoldus) ; axillars and lining of the w^ing similar, but more narrowly barred with white ; anal 

 region and middle of the abdomen plain light buff, grayish, or dusky, barred with white centrally, 

 plain white laterally. Wing-coverts usually more brown than other upper parts ; remiges plain 

 umber. Doimy young : Exactly like that of R. elegans and E. ohsoldus. 



Total length, about 14.00-15.00 inches; wing, .5.40-6.00; culmen, 2.10-2.45; least depth of 

 bill (through middle), .22-.28 ; tarsus, 1.85-2.10 ; middle toe, 1.70-2.00. 



Bill brownish (nearly the color of the supraloral stripe), the upper half of the maxilla dusky ; 

 iris raw-umber brown ; legs and feet very similar in color to outer webs of primaries (manuscript 

 notes on fresh specimens killed in July on Yirglnia coast). According to Audubon, the fresh 

 colors of specimens examined by him wera as follows : " Lower mandible and edges of upper 

 yellowish bro«ni ; ridge of U])])er and tips of both deep brown ; iris pale yellow ; feet pale livid 

 gray, tinged with orange about the tibio-tarsal joint ; claws dusky." 



Rallus longirostris is by far the most variable of the North American species of the genus, the 

 variations noted in a large series being plainly local or geographical to a very large degree, but also 

 individual to a considerable extent. Examples from the Atlantic coast of the United States (New 

 York to North Carolina) are the palest-colored, the upper parts being frequently plain grayish, the 



