RALLIDiE— THE RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS. 91 



This fine bird, the largest of the American true Rgtils, is a 

 cofnmon summer resident, in suitable localities, throughout the 

 State. In Cook county it arriyes, according to Mr. Nelson, 

 "the last of April and departs in October." 



Rallus virginiauus Linn. 



VIRGINIA BAIL. 



Rallus virginianus Linn. S.N. ed. 12, i, 1766, 263.— Wils. Am. Orn. vii, 1813,109, pl.62,flg.l.— 

 NuTT. Man. ii, 1834, 205 ; AuD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 41 ; v, 1839 , 573, pi, 206 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 174, 

 VA. 311.— Baikd, B. N. Am. 1858, 748; Cat. N^Am. B. 1859, No. 554.— OouES, Key, 1872.273: 

 Cheek List, 1873, No. 467; 2d ed. 1882, No. 677; Bii-ds N. W. 1874, 536.— ElDaw. Bull. Nutt. 

 Orn. Club, v. No. 8, 1880. 140; Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 572; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 138.- 

 A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 212. 



Hab. The whole of tempernte North America as far as the Brit|sh Provinces, south to 

 Guatemala and Cuba; winters almost to the northern limit of its range.' 



Sp. Chais. Adult: > A miniature ol R. elegans, but more deeply colored. Above oliva- 

 ceous, heavily striped with black; wing-coverts chestnut-rufous; remiges plain dusky; 

 crown and nape dusky, sometimes uniform, usually indistinctly streaked with olive ; a 

 brownish white supraloral line; side of head uniform phimbeous {sometimes obscured 

 with a brownish wash) ; malar region, foreneck, chest, breast, sides, and abdomen, .some- 

 times throat also, cinnamon, the middle of the belly lighter (sometimes wliitish); flanks 

 (not sides) and axillars dusky, barred with white; lining of wing dusky, the feathers tipped 

 and bordered with white. Downy young: Glossy black; bill scarlet or orange-red in life 

 (wliitish or pale yellowish in the skin), slightly marked with blackish in front of the nostril 

 and on the base of mandible. Young (.first plumage): "Top and sides of head, neck behind, 

 back anteriorly, rump, breast, and sides, dull dead black. Interscapular region black, with 

 a few of the feathers margined with brownish olive. Winfe-oov.erts and wings nearly as in 

 adult, a little duller and darker, perhaps. Superciliary line obscure ashy. Throat ashy 

 white, finely spotted with black. Central region of lower breast and abdomen, with a few 

 of the feathers on the sides, tinged with white. Anal region and crlssum dull reddish 

 chestnut. In my cabinet, from Cambridge, Mass., August, 1875. Several other specimens 

 of corresponding ages agree closely with the one above described. A male, however (Cam- 

 bridge, Aug. 9, 1875), differs in having a faint reddish wash over the white on the breast and 

 abdomen." (Bbewstbb, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Jan, 1879, p. 45). 



Total length, about 7.80 inches; wing, 3.90-4.25; oulmen, 1.45-1.60; tarsus, 1.3M.40; 

 middle toe, 1.20-1.40. "Bill dark brown, the lower mandible and edges of upper yellowish 

 brown; iris bright red; feet yellowish brown tinged with olive; claws more dusky." ( AtJ- 



DUBON.) 



This species is very much like M. elegcms in miniature, being 

 exceedingly similar to that species in coloration. Close exam- 

 ination, however, reveals several important differences, the more 

 obvious of which are the following : The whole " plumage is 

 darker; the sides of the head more uniformly and distinctly 

 plumbeous; the sides and abdomen are cinnamon, like the 

 breast, instead of being respectively barred, like the flanks, and 



•A specimen was sent by Captain JBendire to the National Museum from Walla Walla, 

 Waahington, which was shot Jan. 16, 1879, when the snow was more than a foot deepl 



