10 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



Notes on Birds of Long Island. 



By W. W. Worthington. 



[All articles by Mr. Worthington are original and are 

 written expressly for The Collectors' Monthly. — Ed.] 



[The first number is the list number, the 

 second that of the A. O. U. Check List, and 

 the one following the name is that of the 

 Ridgeway Catalogue.] 



(98) 274-. Porzana Carolina sora. 



Carolina Rail. (574.) 



Bill short ; above greenish brown, with 

 blackish bands and much white edging. Un- 

 der tail coverts white. Top of head and front 

 of neck in adult, biack. Sides with bands of 

 blackish and white. Length 8| inches. 



Common during the migrations, a 



limited number remaining to breed. 



The nest is a flat structure, built in 



the grass in some swampy place, or in 



a marsh. Seven or eight eggs are laid, 



with a light creamy ground color, and 



brown spotted, and averaging about 



l^xl inch in size. 



(99) 275. Porzana noveboracensis. 



Yellow Rail. (575.) 



Above yellow, with stripes of blackish, and 

 narrow ones of white. Neck and breast tinged 

 with reddish, and some of the feathers tipped 

 with brown. Lower tail coverts rufous, with 

 spots of white. Length 6 inches. 



This little bird is rare in all places. 

 It occurs on Long Island in very lim- 

 ited numbers. 



"Late in August, 1876, I saw one 

 on the marshes at Port Jefferson." — 

 Helme. 



The only specimen of this species I 

 ever saw alive, was a fine adult female 

 on which my setter came to a stiff 

 point, and which I stopped when 

 flushed, at Egg Island, Ga., on March 

 29th, 1890. This specimen exhibited 

 quite remarkable powers of flight, ris- 



ing well up and starting off very rap- 

 idly. This was also in a large salt 

 marsh. 



The eggs are creamy or buff, with 

 red-brown markings, f x 1 inch. 

 (700) 276. Porzana jamaicenm. 



Black Rail. (576.) 



Head and under parts slaty black, whitish 

 on throat. Back with whitish and chestnut 

 markings. Lateral under parts white barred. 

 Length 5-£ inches. 



Occurs as an extremely rare sum- 

 mer visitor. Recorded as breeding 

 near Saybrook, Conn. The nest of 

 this species is more cup shaped than 

 is usual with this family of birds. 

 The eggs are whitish ground color, 

 spotted with reddish brown, about £ x 



1 inch. 



(707) 277. Crexcrex. 



Corn Crake. (577.) 



Above dark brown, with yellowish edgings. 

 Wings brownish red ; bill short ; conical. 

 Lateral under parts banded with red-brown 

 and whitish. Length 10 inches. 



A rare straggler from Europe ; a 



specimen of this species was shot by a 



farmer at Amagansett, in August, 



1885. It was found in an upland 



meadow in company with some 



Meadow-larks. — Dutcher. 



(702) 278. Ionornis martinica. 



Purple Gallinule. (578.) 



Upper parts bright glossy olive green, with 

 a brownish tinge on the rump and back. 

 Head and under parts glossy purple. Fore- 

 head blue. Bill red, its tip yellow. Legs yel- 

 low. Length 12 inches. 



This beautiful bird is very rare, so 



far north as Long Island. A fine male, 



in full plumage, was killed by Mr. 



Victor Edwards, at Middle Island, in 



the summer of 1879, which I have 



had the pleasure of examining. 



