46 VIRGINIAN RAIL. 



brown. Iris bright red. Feet yellowish-brown, tinged with olive ; claws 

 more dusky. The general colour of the upper parts is deep brownish- 

 black, with streaks of light olive-brown ; sides of the head dull bluish- 

 grev, loral space of a deeper tint ; a brownish-orange hne over the eye. 

 Alula, primary quills, and tail blackish -brown ; secondary quills like the 

 back, but edged with greenish-brown, smaller coverts dark chestnut. 

 Throat reddish-white ; fore neck and breast bright orange-brown, ap- 

 proaching to yellowish-red ; sides, abdomen, and lower wing-coverts bar- 

 red with brownish-black and white, the bands of the latter narrower ; 

 tibial feathers dusky anteriorly, light reddish behind. Lower tail-coverts 

 each with a central brownish-black spot, the edges white, the tips pale 

 reddish. 



Length to end of tail 10^ inches, to end of claws 13, extent of 

 wings 14j; bill Ij^ ; tarsus lj%, middle toe and claw l^^g ; wing from 

 flexure 4^, tail 1^^. 



Adult Female. Plate CCV. Fig. 2. 



The Female is considerably smaller than the male, but resembles it in 

 colouring, only the dark tints of the upper parts are lighter, the chestnut 

 of the wings paler, and the lower parts of a less bright red. 



Length 9^. 



Young bird fledged. Plate CCV. Fig. 3. 



When fully fledged the young does not differ materially in colour 

 from the old, the tints being merely somewhat duller. 



In colouring this species is so nearly allied to R. elegans, that the de- 

 scription of the one might pass very well for that of the other ; the prin- 

 cipal diff*erence being that the sides of the head are grey in the former, 

 and dusky in the latter. Of course, the difference in size and habits is 

 sufficient to prevent their being confounded together. 



