278 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



and staying till October. It inhabits the reed-bordered 



shores of lakes or ponds, either swimming like a duck or 



walking in the shal- 

 lows like a rail. Its 

 notes are very hen- 

 like. It may be 

 known by its red, 

 yellow - tipped bill 

 and a plate of 

 bright red on the 

 front of its head. 

 Its tail is constantly 

 cocked, and shows 



a patch of white beneath it. (See Brewster, " Auk," vol. viii. 



pp. 1-7, for a full account of the habits and notes of the 



Florida Gallinule.) 



Fig. 80. Florida Gallinule 



SoEA ; Carolina Rail. Porzana Carolina 

 8.50. Bill .80 



Ad. — Top of head brown, a blackish stripe through the centre; 

 back, wings, and tail brown, streaked with black and a little 

 white; sides of head, line over eye, and breast ash-gray; fore- 

 head, region about the base of the bill, middle of throat, and 

 breast black ; belly white ; hill short, yellow. Im. — Upper parts 

 dark brown, mixed on the back with black and a little white ; 

 throat white ; breast washed with buff ; sides dark, barred with 

 white ; belly white. 



Nest, a platform of grass or sedge in a tuft of grass or sedge. 

 Eggs, brownish-buff, sparsely spotted with brown and purplish- 

 gray. 



The Carolina Rail is a common summer resident of most 

 of New York and New England, though rather rare in the 

 vicinity of New York city. It arrives in April, and leaves 

 in October. Though common in suitable localities, it is 

 only found where there are extensive marshes, cat- tail 

 swamps, or meadows which retain much water all through 



