28 BIRDS OF ARKANSAS. 



Sora Rail. Porzana Carolina. 



The sora is probably a common migrant in all parts of the State, 

 passing north in April and May and returning in September and 

 October. In migration it may often be found in very small or partly 

 dry marshes and even in moist upland meadows. One was seen by 

 Mr. C. E. Pleas September 18, 1896, on Pinnacle Mountain, 800 feet 

 above Clinton. 1 At Mena, May 24, 1910, I flushed three from a wet 

 meadow overgrown with briers. In spite of the very late date, I 

 consider these birds migrants, but since the species has been found 

 breeding near Kansas City, Mo., it may perhaps breed in the higher 

 parts of Arkansas. 



Yellow Rail. Coturnicops noveboracensis. 



The yellow rail is a rather uncommon migrant in the marshes of the 

 Mississippi Valley and may be looked for in Arkansas in March and 

 April and also in autumn. 



The only record for the State is furnished by a specimen in the 

 United States National Museum (No. 12641) labeled "Fort Wayne, 

 Ark., Lieut. Eustis." This fort was located on the Arkansas- 

 Oklahoma boundary, about 10 miles south of the Missouri line, on 

 one of the branches of Spavina Creek. 2 



[Purple Gallinule. Ionornis martinica. 



This gallinule is a common resident of the Gulf States and tropical America, and 

 occasionally wanders into the Middle States. Audubon speaks of it as occurring 

 rarely as far north as Memphis, 3 so it will probably be found in Arkansas.] 



[Florida Gallinule. Gallinula galeata. 



This species occurs locally as a summer resident over a large part of the United 

 States, and will undoubtedly be found breeding in some of the swamps of Arkansas.] 



Coot. Fulica americana. 



This species, which is often known as "mud hen/' is a common 

 migrant in the Mississippi Valley and doubtless occurs regularly in 

 the swamps and lakes of Arkansas, breeding locally in small numbers. 

 Widmann, in Birds of Missouri, records it on the authority of Philo W. 

 Smith, jr., as breeding on White River, near Eureka Springs. About 

 half a dozen were seen at Big Lake June 20, 1911 (McAtee). A 

 writer in the American Field speaks of the arrival of coots in numbers 

 in Crawford County in November. 4 McAtee found them abundant 

 on Wappanocka and Menasha Lakes November 17-23, and saw a good 

 many on Mud Lake November 14. The coot is mainly a vegetable 



1 Osprey, I, p. 67, 1897. 



2 See Keeler's Map of the U. S. Territories, Pacific R. R. Routes, Mineral Lands, and Indian Reserva- 

 tions, 1867. 



3 Orn. Biog., IV, p. 38, 1838. 



* Bowden, Geo. W. C, Amer. Field, LVII, pp. 166, 167, 1902. 



