830 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus PORZANA Vieill. 



Porzana Vieillot, Analyse nouV. Orn. elem., p. 61 (1816 — Monotype 

 Button's Marouette —Ballus porzana L.). 



Small to medium sized Rails with bills short (only as long as 

 head or shorter), and fairly strong but not so strong and high at 

 base as in Crex. Middle toe with claw longer than tarsus. Many 

 species in all countries. 



Key to species of genus Porzana. 



-. /Under tail-coverts uniform 2 



\ Under tail -coverts barred or spotted .... 3 



r Inner webs of inner secondaries like outer, edged with white P. Carolina :> 



o J p. 832 



^ I Inner webs of inner secondaries lighter than outer, without white edges 



^ P. porzana, p. 830 



Smaller, longest secondaries not more than 1.5 cm. shorter 



than primaries, first primary with white outer edge P. pusilla, p. 837 

 Larger, longest secondaries at least 2.5 cm. shorter than pri- 

 maries, first primary without definite white outer edge P. parva, p. 834 



PORZANA PORZANA 



478. Porzana porzana (L.)— THE SPOTTED CRAKE. 



Rallus Porzana Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. xn, i, p. 262 (1766 — Europe. 



Restricted typical locality : France). 



Porzana maruetta (Leach), Yarrell, in, p. 143 ; Saunders, p. 509. 



Description. — Adult male. Winter. — Feathers of whole upper- 

 parts with large black centres and greenish-brown fringes, and 

 except on centre of crown, sides of feathers with white spots, small 

 on back of neck and upper -mantle but forming short narrow streaks 

 on rest of upper-parts and long streaks on scapulars ; stripe from 

 base of upper mandible, over eye and down sides of nape tinged 

 slate and thickly spotted white except on fore-part which is clearer 



Adult, winter,- of— A. Carolina Crake {Porzana Carolina). B. The Spotted 

 Crake P. porzana). 



slate and scarcely spotted ; lores dusky ; ear-coverts brown 

 mottled buff-brown ; chin whitish more or less mottled dull slate ; 

 lower-throat brown tinged slate and spotted white ; breast and 

 sides same but feathers with penultimate narrow bars of white as 

 well as spots at tips ; flanks darker with broader white bars and 

 spots ; centre of belly bufnsh-white ; under tail-coverts buff ; 

 axillaries grey-black barred white ; inner and lower under wing- 

 coverts same but upper and outer ones white ; tail as upper -parts 



