﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  281 
  

  

  Ontario, 
  9 
  near 
  Buffalo, 
  6 
  on 
  the 
  central 
  lakes 
  — 
  Canandaigua 
  4, 
  Penn 
  Yan 
  i, 
  

   Oneida 
  county 
  i 
  — 
  and 
  i 
  in 
  Putnam 
  county. 
  Between 
  September 
  20th 
  

   and 
  October 
  nth, 
  1907 
  Mr 
  Hermann 
  Grieb 
  of 
  Buffalo, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  saw 
  12 
  or 
  15 
  

   oi;' 
  these 
  birds 
  at 
  Rattlesnake 
  island, 
  Niagara 
  river. 
  During 
  the 
  three 
  weeks 
  

   while 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  marsh, 
  he 
  saw 
  them 
  at 
  every 
  visit 
  and 
  collected 
  

   five 
  or 
  six 
  specimens. 
  The 
  others 
  were 
  flushed, 
  but 
  at 
  such 
  close 
  range 
  that 
  

   they 
  were 
  not 
  shot, 
  but 
  were 
  easily 
  identified 
  by 
  the 
  white 
  wing 
  patches. 
  

   Mr 
  Todd 
  in 
  his 
  Birds 
  of 
  Erie, 
  pages 
  533-34, 
  gives 
  the 
  migration 
  dates 
  as 
  

   April 
  23 
  to 
  May 
  3; 
  and 
  September 
  15 
  to 
  October 
  29. 
  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  

   this 
  is 
  a 
  regular 
  migrant 
  through 
  our 
  State 
  and 
  should 
  be 
  looked 
  for 
  about 
  

   the 
  first 
  of 
  May 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  October. 
  

  

  Nuttall 
  describes 
  the 
  note 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  crake 
  as 
  "an 
  abrupt, 
  cackling 
  

   cry 
  'krek, 
  'krek, 
  'krek, 
  'krek, 
  'kuk, 
  'k 
  'kh." 
  Mr 
  J. 
  H. 
  Ames 
  of 
  Toronto 
  

   describes 
  its 
  note 
  as 
  a 
  scolding, 
  kik-kik-kik-kik-queah. 
  When 
  much 
  sur- 
  

   prised 
  his 
  specimen 
  uttered 
  a 
  longer 
  call 
  kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik- 
  

   ki-queah, 
  like 
  the 
  famous 
  Kicker 
  of 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  marshes 
  [Auk, 
  19 
  194]. 
  

  

  Creciscus 
  jamaicensis 
  (Gmelin) 
  

   Little 
  Black 
  Rail 
  

  

  Plate 
  26 
  

  

  Rallus 
  jamaicensis 
  Gmelin. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  1788. 
  Ed. 
  r. 
  2:718 
  

   Porzana 
  jamaicensis 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  216 
  

  

  creel' 
  scus, 
  Lat. 
  crex, 
  crake; 
  jamaicen'sis, 
  of 
  Jamaica 
  

  

  Description. 
  Very 
  small; 
  head, 
  neck 
  and 
  lower 
  parts 
  dark 
  slate 
  color 
  

   becoming 
  blackish 
  on 
  belly; 
  hind 
  neck 
  and 
  foreback 
  chestnut-brown; 
  the 
  

   upper 
  parts 
  speckled 
  and 
  finely 
  barred 
  with 
  white; 
  flanks 
  and 
  lower 
  belly 
  

   barred 
  with 
  white. 
  Length 
  5-6 
  inches; 
  wing 
  2.75-3; 
  tail 
  1.35; 
  tarsus 
  .80; 
  

   bill 
  .5. 
  

  

  The 
  Little 
  black 
  rail 
  inhabits 
  temperate 
  North 
  America 
  from 
  the 
  

   West 
  Indies 
  and 
  western 
  South 
  America 
  to 
  Oregon, 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Massachu- 
  

   setts. 
  On 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  secretive 
  habits, 
  its 
  migration 
  and 
  breeding 
  range 
  

   are 
  imperfectly 
  known. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  uncommon 
  species 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  very 
  few 
  nests 
  have 
  ever 
  been 
  found. 
  As 
  it 
  has 
  bred 
  

   in 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  Connecticut 
  and 
  probably 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  there 
  is 
  little 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  it 
  breeds 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  perhaps 
  in 
  the 
  Hudson 
  valley 
  

  

  