292 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFORNIA 



brown barred with white; under surface of wing plain dusky brown; breast 

 and under surface einuamon brown fading to lighter on belly; flanks blackish, 

 barred narrowly with white; lower tail coverts mixed blackish, white, and 

 cinnamon; legs and feet yellowish brown. Males: Total length 10.00-10.50 

 inches (254-267 mm.) (two specimens from California); folded wing 4.14r- 

 4.33 (105-110); bill along culmen 1.53-1.71 (39.0-43.4); tarsus 1.40-1.49 (35.6- 

 37.6) (nine specimens from California and Vancouver Island). Females: Total 

 length 9.31-10.00 (236-254) (three specimens from California); folded 

 wing 3.76-4.17 (95.3-106.0); bill along culmen 1.38-1.59 (35.0-40.3); tarsus 

 1.30-1.45 (33.1-36.8) (ten specimens from California). Juvenile plumage: Top 

 of head, hind neck, fore-back, and rump, dull black with traces of buffy 

 feather-edgings; chin and throat extensively white; head otherwise as in 

 adult; wings and tail as in adult; lower surface mixed black and white, the 

 latter predominating down middle of breast and on belly; lower tail coverts 

 dull cinnamon. Natal plumage: Entirely black, with greenish and steel blue 

 reflections; bill scarlet or orange-red except for black band across upper 

 mandible and black basal part of lower mandible. 



Marks for field identification — Medium size (about that of a Killdeer), 

 long, slender, brownish bill (fig. 50), cinnamon-colored breast, and olive brown 

 back broadly streaked with black. Closely resembles Clapper Rail in pro- 

 portions and coloration, but of less than one-third the bulk of that bird. 

 Distinguished from Sora by much longer and slenderer bill (compare fig. 51), 

 lack of black on face, and presence of bright cinnamon on lower surface; dis- 

 tinguished from Yellow Rail by much larger size, longer bill, and absence of 

 narrow white bars on back and wing coverts. 



Voice — Cut, cut, cutta-cutta-cutta ; during the breeding season a rapid suc- 

 cession of low, yet penetrating grunts not unlike those of a hungry pig 

 (Brewster, 19026, p. 47). 



Nest — Of dead grasses, sedges, or tules gathered in a heap, with a shallow 

 depression on top; usually well concealed in dense vegetation. 



Eggs — 5 to 12, rounded oval in shape, measuring in inches, 1.18 to 1.36 by 

 0.83 to 1.00 (in millimeters, 30.1 to 34.5 by 21.2 to 25.3), and averaging 1.28 

 by 0.93 (32.5 by 23.7) (eighteen eggs from Utah); ground color pale buffy 

 gray, with superficial spots and dots of reddish brown, chiefly around larger 

 end, and deeper ones of lavender. 



General distribution — North America. Breeds from British Columbia, south- 

 ern Saskatchewan, southern Keewatin, Ontario, southern Quebec, and New 

 Brunswick south to southern California, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, New 

 Jersey, and eastern North Carolina, and in the Toluea Valley, near the City of 

 Mexico; winters from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Colo- 

 rado, to Lower California and Guatemala, also in the lower Mississippi states, 

 and from North Carolina (casually Massachusetts) to Florida (A. O. U. Check- 

 list, 1910, p. 103; Cooke, 1914, pp. 23-24). 



Distribution in California — Common in summer throughout the state, 

 chiefly in fresh-water marshes. Breeds south to Escondido, San Diego County 

 (Sharp, 1907, p. 86). Also fairly common in winter, on both fresh water and 

 salt marshes, west of the Sierras, north at least to Suisnn Marshes, Solano 

 County (MuB. Vert. Zool.), and Tomales Bay, Marin County (Mailliard, MS). 



Rails are so reclusive in their habits and frequent such dense 

 marshy growths that most people know very little about them. In 

 fact, people often live within a stone's throw of the habitat of these 



