12 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



Creciscus spilonotus: Galapagos Rail 



Porzana galapagoensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiii, 1894, 113 



(Galapagos Archipelago). 

 Creciscus sharpei Rothschild and Hartert, Nov. Zool., vi, 1899, 185 



(Indefatigable Island). 



Abingdon, Albemarle, Indefatigable, James, Narborough, 

 and Seymour islands. 



This rail is scarce on Abingdon, Albemarle, and Seymour 

 islands; fairly common on James and Narborough, and very 

 common on Indefatigable. Occurring both at sea level and at 

 high altitudes, it is found under a variety of conditions, in 

 the mangroves of the littoral region and in the dense and 

 luxuriant vegetation of the moist region. 



Two were shot by Mr. Beck on March 17, 1902, among 

 thick ferns near fresh water in the vicinity of Villamil, Albe- 

 marle Island. One was taken in a mangrove swamp on the 

 southern end of South Seymour in November, 1905. On 

 Abingdon Island (altitude 1950 feet), it was found during 

 September, 1906, just below the fern-belt which caps the 

 highest portion of the island. In this situation it occurred 

 among small plants about a foot in height, the spreading tops 

 of which grew so close together as to obscure the ground. On 

 Narborough Island, April 4 and 5, 1906, Mr. Beck heard it 1 



several times in the tall grass on the rim of the great crater at 

 an elevation of between four and five thousand feet. 



On Indefatigable Island, in November and January, this 

 species was taken in the mangroves of the northern coast oppo- 

 site Daphne, and in the mangroves at Academy Bay. In 

 both places they were fairly easy to shoot, as the ground was 

 not much hidden by the roots of the trees. On the south 

 side of the island, from about 450 to 1100 feet — the highest 

 altitude reached — they were common, and, because of the | 



open spaces under the bushes and trees, quite easy to obtain. . 

 Below seven hundred feet they gradually diminished in num- 

 bers, owing to the increasing sparsity of- the vegetation, and to 

 its transition from humid to arid. In the forests these rails 

 were far from wild, coming very close and peering with their 

 little red eyes into the intruder's face. If a sudden move- 

 ment or noise was made, they disappeared like a flash. Often 

 many were heard, but few seen. On the first trip inland from 

 Academy Bay, in November, 1905, only twelve were seen; 



