NORTH AMERICAN RAILS AND THEIR ALLIES. 3 



it has fed for many weeks on the animal life of the salt-water marshes, 

 would not recognize the taste of the bird in October in northern 

 Minnesota, after it has been fattened on that best of all duck foods, 

 wild rice. But everywhere in the United States coots and gallinules 

 should be recognized by law and their killing should be forbidden dur- 

 ing the closed season on ducks, if for no other reason than that their 

 slaughter may not be used as a blind to hide the killing of the more 

 valuable ducks. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The North American rails and their allies include 36 species and 8 

 subspecies, a total of 44 forms. Twenty-one of these (16 species and 5 

 subspecies) are found only in the West Indies and Middle America, 

 and two are Eastern Hemisphere species that are casual or accidental 

 in North America. This leaves 18 species and 3 subspecies, or 21 

 forms, that occur in the United States. 



SOUTHERN FORMS NOT RANGING NORTH TO THE UNITED STATES. 



Cuban king rail (Rallus elegans ramsdeni). 

 Mexican king rail (Rallies tenuirostris) . 

 Bahama clapper rail (Rallus crepitans 



coryi) . 

 Caribbean clapper rail (Rallus longiros- 



tris caribaeus). 

 Cuban clapper rail (Rallus longirostris 



cubanus). 

 Yucatan clapper rail (Rallus pallidus). 

 Spotted rail (Limnopardalus maculatus). 

 Lawrence wood rail (Aramides axillaris) . 

 Cayenne wood rail (Aramides cajanea). 

 Mangrove wood rail (Aramides albiven- 



tris) . 



Nicaragua wood rail (Aramides plumbei- 

 collis). 



Red rail (Amaurolimnas concolor). 



Mexican yellow rail (Porzana goldmani). 



Yellow-bellied rail (Porzana flaviventris). 



Rufous rail (Porzana rubra). 



Ash -headed rail (Creciscus cinereiceps) . 



White-throated rail (Creciscus albigu- 

 laris). 



Wandering rail (Creciscus exilis vagans). 



Caribbean coot (Fulica caribaea). 



American finfoot (Heliornis fulica) . 



Guatemalan sun bittern (Eurypyga ma- 

 jor). 



EURASIAN FORMS ACCIDENTAL IN GREENLAND. 



Spotted crake (Porzana porzana). | European coot (Fulica atra). 



FORMS RANGING IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Whooping crane (Grus americana). 

 Little brown crane (Grus canadensis). 

 Sandhill crane (Grus mexicana). 

 Limpkin (Aramus vociferus) . 

 King rail (Rallus elegans). 

 Belding rail (Rallus beldingi). 

 California clapper rail (Rallus obsoletus). 

 Light-footed rail (Rallus levipes). 

 Clapper rail (Rallus crepitans crepitans). 

 Louisiana clapper rail (Rallus crepitans 



saturatus). 

 Florida clapper rail (Rallus crepitans 



scotti). 



Wayne clapper rail (Rallus crepitans 



waynei). 

 Virginia rail (Rallus virginianus) . 

 Sora, or Carolina rail (Porzana Carolina). 

 Yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) . 

 Black rail ( Creciscus jamaicensis) . 

 Farallon rail (Creciscus coturniculus) . 

 Corn crake ( Crex crex) . 

 Purple gallinule (Ionornis martinicus). 

 Florida gallinule (Gallinula galeata). 

 Coot (Fulica americana). 



