BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 



207 



VIRGINIA RAIL (Rallus virginianus) . 

 Common or local names : Long-billed Rail ; Fresh- water Marsh-hen. 



Length. — 8.50 to 10.50 inches; bill 1.50. 



Adult. — Top of head, back of neck and back rich olive brown, streaked 

 with blackish; feathers sometimes bordered with pale grayish; sides 

 of head ash gray; line from bill to above eye white; below it a blackish 

 stripe from bill through eye; chin and throat white; wings and tail 

 dark grayish brown; wing coverts rich reddish brown; below a warm 

 brown; lower belly and flanks black, barred with white; bill long, 

 slightly curved. 



Young. — Above much as in adult but darker; throat and line down the 

 middle of the under parts whitish; rest of under parts blackish. 



Downy Young. — Sooty black, with yellowish bill. 



Field Marks. — Size of Bob-white; long reddish bill and rich brown breast 

 distinguish this bird from the Sora. 



Notes. — Call, kep, Idk or lap; song, a grunting sound, wak-wak-wak, and 

 cut, cutta-cutta-cutta (Brewster). Female, when anxious, Id-ki-ld or Idu, 

 like a Flicker (Eaton). 



Nest. — Of grasses in marshy land. 



Eggs. — Six to twelve, pale grayish or buffy white, spotted and speckled 

 with reddish brown and lilac, about 1.26 by .96. 



Season. — Common local summer resident; early April to middle of October; 

 a few winter in southeastern Massachusetts. 



