138 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Family XVIII. RALLID^ffi Rails, Gallinules, Coots. 



LXXV. RALLUS Linn^us. 1758. 



208. King Rail. 



Rallus elegans Aud. 1835. 



Casual around Montreal in summer. Dionne.) 



This large and handsome Rail, which until recently was con- 

 sidered to be only a casual visitor to Ontario, is now known to 

 breed plentifully in the marshes all along the River St. Clair. It 

 has also been found at other points in southern Ontario, but the 

 St. Clair Flats seem to be its favourite breeding -place. It 

 arrives in May and leaves in September. (Mcllwraith.) Observed 

 once at Plover Pond, Middlesex Co., Ont. {R. Elliott.) 



Mr. Hine and Mr. E. Seton-Thompson have seen this species 

 in Manitoba, where it is evidently a casual. 



MUSEUM specimen. 



One specimen purchased with the Holman collection in 1885. 



-212. Virginia Rail. 



Rallus virginianus Linn. 1766. 



A common summer migrant in New Brunswick. {Chatnierlain.) 

 Not uncommon along the St. Lawrence. (Dionne.) A casual on 

 the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Com- 

 mon in western Quebec and eastern Ontario, where it breeds. 

 Generally distributed throughout Ontario. A common summer 

 resident in eastern Manitoba. Not seen to the west of that -pro- 

 vince, in the prairie region. Found on both the mainland and 

 Vancouver Island ; not common ; breeds. Fannin) Tolerably 

 common summer resident in the Lower Fraser valley ; winters at 

 Lake Okanagan, B.C. (Brooks) 



Breeding Notes. — A nest was brought to me from a slough 

 near Carberry, Manitoba, July 30th, 1884. It was found in a 

 tussock of coarse grass, and was built of dry stems of the same. 

 The eggs, eight in number, were quite fresh, and differed from 

 the Carolina Rail only in being of a lighter colour and with 

 reddish instead of umber spots, these chiefly about the larger end. 



