FAM. XLII. RAILS, GALLINVLES, ETC. 255 



of webbed. There is a horny plate on the forehead.' They 

 inhabit creeks and rivers which are surrounded with just such 

 marshes and reed-grown shores as are the dwelling places of 

 rails. The coots are nearly exclusively swimming birds, almost 

 as much so as ducks. The rails swim but little, and the 

 gallinules are intermediate. 



Key to the Species 



* Forehead witli a shield-like, horny extension of the bill ; i under tail 



coverts white ; wing over 6J long. (E.) 



* No horny extension of the bill on the forehead. (A.) 

 A. Bill slender, decurved,' 2 or more long. (D.) 



A. Bill slender, decurved,^ 1 J-l| long 4. Virginia Rail. 



A. Bill stout, not deourved, 1 or less long. (B.) 



B. Wing over 5 long ; Old World species, rare in America 



8. Corn Crake. 



B. Wing under 5 long. (C.) 



C. Feathers of the hack black with broad, buffy borders 



6. Yellow Rail. 



C. Back olive-brown ; wing over 4 long 5. Sora. 



C. Back blackish with round, white spots ; wing, 2J-3J 



7. Black Rail. 



D. Upper parts rich olive-brown, streaked with black ; flanks black 

 barred with white ; wings generally over 6 long and with rufous 



coverts 1. King Rail. 



D. Upper parts grayish streaked with black ; flanks not black, though 



barred with whitish 2 and 3 Clapper Rails. 



E. Most of the head and all under parts purplish-blue (mottled with 

 white in the young) ; back olive-green (washed with brownish in 



the young) 9. Purple Gallinule. 



E. Generally slate-colored above, with conspicuous white streaks on 



the flanks ; toes without lobes along their edges 



10. Florida Gallinule. 



E. Slate-colored, with white tips to the secondary quills ; toes with 

 broad, membranous lobes ^ 11. Coot. 



1. King Rail (208. Rdllus Megans). — A large, brightly col- 

 ored, long-billed, cinnamon-red-breasted, olive-brown- to black- 

 backed, distinctly blotched, fresh-water, marsh rail with sides 

 more or less barred with black and white. The wing coverts 

 are brownish-red. The downy young are glossy black. This, 

 like most of the rails, rarely flies when it is possible for it to 



