196 WADING BIRDS. 



Hutching. By the first week in November their cackling 

 ceases ; and as they seem to migrate hither without delay, and 

 with great expedition for a bird with such short wings, it is 

 probable they proceed at once to the swamps of the Southern 

 States. 



This species is not as abundant as either the Virginia Rail or the 

 Sora, but it is not so rare as many writers have supposed. It is 

 such a skulker and hides so quickly that it generally escapes obser- 

 vation even when close at hand. The bird is a summer resident of 

 New England and the Maritime Provinces, and has been taken in 

 the Hudson Bay district. It is quite common in Ohio, and has 

 been found nesting in Illinois. It winters in the Southern States. 



BLACK RAIL. 



PORZANA JAMAICENSIS. 



Char. Head, neck, and lower parts dark slate or dusky ; back rich 

 brown ; wings and tail brownish black, marked with white ; belly and 

 flanks barred with white. Length about 5 inches. 



Nest. In a wet meadow or reedy marsh, hid amid the rank grass ; a 

 compactly made, deep cup of grass and weed stems. 



Eggs- 8-10 ; dull white or creamy, marked all over with fine spots of 

 reddish brown; 1. 00 X 0.80. 



This, the smallest of our Rails, was not mentioned by Nuttall, 

 though it had been discovered long before his time, and was given 

 by Audubon. It has always been considered a rare bird, being 

 seldom found on the Atlantic coast, and only a few examples being 

 seen north of New Jersey — in Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

 In the western division of this Eastern Province it is more common, 

 and goes somewhat farther north ; a number of nests having been 

 taken in northern Illinois. In habits this species does not differ 

 materially from its congeners. 



Note. — The Spotted Crake {Porzana porsana), an Old 

 World species, occasionally visits Greenland. 



The Corn Crake, or Land Rail {Crex crex), also an Old World 

 species, occurs regularly in Greenland, and has been taken gn Long 

 Island and Bermuda, 



