﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  271 
  

  

  general 
  is 
  considered 
  degenerate 
  and 
  several 
  species 
  are 
  threatened 
  with 
  

   extermination. 
  We 
  fear 
  that 
  our 
  own 
  Black 
  rail 
  may 
  be 
  among 
  this 
  number. 
  

  

  Rallus 
  elegans 
  Audubon 
  

   King 
  Rail 
  

  

  Plate 
  25 
  

  

  Rallus 
  elegans 
  Audubon. 
  Ornithological 
  Biographies. 
  1835. 
  3: 
  27, 
  pi. 
  203 
  

  

  DeKav. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  260, 
  fig. 
  221 
  

   A. 
  O.'U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  208 
  

  

  ral'lus, 
  Lat. 
  , 
  rail, 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  rattling 
  cry; 
  e'legans, 
  choice, 
  elegant 
  

  

  Description. 
  Upper 
  parts 
  brown, 
  or 
  brownish 
  black, 
  the 
  feathers 
  

   broadly 
  margined 
  with 
  tawny 
  olive; 
  wing 
  and 
  tail 
  feathers 
  olive-brown; 
  

   wing 
  coverts 
  varying 
  from 
  rtifous 
  to 
  rich 
  chestnut; 
  top 
  of 
  head 
  and 
  hind 
  

   neck 
  plain 
  dark 
  brown; 
  throat 
  and 
  line 
  over 
  the 
  eye 
  nearly 
  white; 
  breast 
  

   and 
  foreneck 
  deep 
  cinnamon 
  or 
  rufous; 
  sides, 
  flanks 
  and 
  axillars 
  brownish 
  

   black, 
  distinctly 
  barred 
  with 
  white; 
  under 
  tail 
  coverts 
  white 
  coarsely 
  spotted 
  

   with 
  blackish; 
  bill 
  dusky 
  brown 
  on 
  top 
  and 
  tip, 
  base 
  and 
  lower 
  mandible 
  

   mostly 
  yellowish 
  brown; 
  legs 
  yellowish 
  brown; 
  eyes 
  reddish 
  brown; 
  legs 
  and 
  

   bill 
  tinged 
  with 
  reddish 
  in 
  high 
  plumage. 
  

  

  Length 
  17-19 
  inches; 
  extent 
  23-25; 
  wing 
  6-7; 
  tail 
  2.5; 
  bill 
  2.1-2.5; 
  

   tarsus 
  2.3; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  2.2-2.6; 
  tibia 
  bare 
  about 
  .7-1. 
  

  

  Field 
  marks. 
  The 
  King 
  rail 
  is 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  Virginia 
  rail 
  by 
  

   its 
  much 
  greater 
  size; 
  from 
  the 
  Clapper 
  rail 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  olive-brown, 
  

   instead 
  of 
  grayish 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  parts, 
  and 
  the 
  bright 
  rufous 
  instead 
  of 
  

   buffy 
  breast. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  fresh-water 
  species, 
  whereas 
  the 
  Clapper 
  rail 
  

   inhabits 
  the 
  salt 
  or 
  brackish 
  marshes. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  King 
  rail 
  inhabits 
  the 
  eastern 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  being 
  resident 
  in 
  the 
  Southern 
  States. 
  In 
  New 
  York 
  it 
  is 
  apparently 
  

   an 
  uncommon 
  summer 
  resident 
  and 
  is 
  most 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  marshes 
  

   of 
  central 
  and 
  western 
  New 
  York. 
  Dutcher 
  records 
  four 
  specimens 
  from 
  

   Long 
  Island 
  [see 
  Auk, 
  5: 
  176]. 
  From 
  western 
  New 
  York 
  there 
  are 
  several 
  

   records 
  by 
  Langille, 
  Reinecke, 
  Savage, 
  Posson, 
  Eaton 
  and 
  Bruce. 
  These 
  

   are 
  mostly 
  fall 
  birds, 
  killed 
  in 
  August, 
  September 
  and 
  October. 
  The 
  

   earliest 
  date 
  of 
  arrival 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  is 
  March 
  3d, 
  1887, 
  when 
  a 
  specimen 
  

   struck 
  the 
  Montauk 
  Light. 
  The 
  latest 
  dates 
  are 
  November 
  2d, 
  1886, 
  

  

  