274 The Water-fowl Family 



KING RAIL 

 (Rallus elegans) 



Adult male and female — Upper parts, olive-drab distinctly striped 

 with black ; top of head, dark brown with a supra-loral streak 

 of brownish white ; lores, brownish gray ; throat, white ; re- 

 mainder of head and neck, including jugulum and breast, light 

 cinnamon ; sides, dark brown barred with white ; lower abdo- 

 men, light buff, sometimes white; wing-coverts, rusty brown, 

 more or less barred with reddish white; lower mandible and 

 edges of the upper, yellowish ; ridge of upper and tips of both, 

 brown ; iris, red ; feet, olive-brown. 



Downy young— Uniform black ; bill, dusky ; the tip and band near 

 face, yellowish ; feet, brownish. 



Measurements — Length, 17 inches; wing, 6.50 inches; culmen, 

 2.25 inches ; tarsus, 2.30 inches ; middle toe, 2 inches. Individ- 

 ual measurements vary considerably. 



Eggs — Nine to twelve in number, creamy white in color, marked 

 with small spots and blotches of purplish slate, measure 1.70 

 by 1.25 inches. 



Habitat — Fresh-water marshes of the eastern United States, west 

 to Texas and Kansas ; breeding from its southern limit north 

 regularly to New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Ontario, 

 Michigan, Nebraska, and probably Minnesota, and occurring 

 irregularly to Maine, New Brunswick, South Dakota, and possi- 

 bly Manitoba and Utah. Winters chiefly in the southern half of 

 its range, north occasionally to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, 

 and southern Illinois. Accidental in Cuba. 



Fresh-water marshes of the Southern and Mid- 

 dle states are the common resorts of the king rail, 

 and thence it straggles to the northern border of 

 the United States and has been taken in Canada. 

 In South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, 

 this bird is a resident throughout the year, but its 

 secretive habits, and the protective nature of the 



