NA^rURAL HISTORY OF THE KING RAIL 



11 



(western Dickey County), central Minnesota (Otter Tail and Hen- 

 nepin Counties), southern Wisconsin (Jamesville, Madison, Racine), 

 central Michigan (Saginaw Bay), southern Ontario (St. Clair Flats 

 to Toronto), and New York (Buffalo, Branchport, Ithaca, Long 

 Island), to Massachusetts. The western boundary extends from south- 

 eastern North Dakota, eastern Nebraska, western Kansas (Cheyenne 

 and Meade Counties), and central Oklahoma, to southern Texas 

 (Corpus Christi). Collections of specimens at Brownsville, Tex., on 

 September 27, 1911, and April 2 (year not given) (Griscom and 

 Crosby, 1925, p. 527) suggest the possibility of breeding in that area. 

 The eastern boundary extends from Massachusetts southward along 

 the Atlantic coast to the southern Everglades. The southern boundary 

 includes the gulf coast region, in places virtually to the edge of the 

 gulf itself. 



Records of occurrence near or beyond the limits of the normal 

 breeding range are as follows: St. John's, Newfoundland (October 

 20, 1935) ; Wellington, Prince Edward Island, Canada (March 28, 

 1917) ; Ottawa, Ontario (May 7, 1896) ; Crane Lake, Ontario (July 

 31, 1931) ; Port Perry, Ontario (April 21, 1923) ; Bucksport, Maine 

 (November 22, 1909) ; Fargo, N. Dak. (October 15, 1925) ; Key West, 

 Fla. (November 2, 1895) ; Dry Tortugas, Fla. (May 1961) (W. B. 

 Robertson, personal communication) ; and Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, 

 Mexico (January 18, 1901) . 



The King Rail's principal wintering range coincides with that part 

 of the breeding range where the species is most abundant, in the tide- 

 water country from the Delaware Valley to southeastern Georgia, and 

 southward through interior Florida into the Everglades, westward 

 through the gulf coast marshes and the rice belts of Louisiana and 

 Texas, and north into the Arkansas rice belt. 



The King Rail is a regular winter resident along the Atlantic 

 coast as far north as New York City and in the Mississippi Valley 

 to southeastern Missouri. Southernmost winter records in the United 

 States are from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, in the vicinity of 

 Brownsville, Tex. (December 28, 1911, and January 10, 1923) (Gris- 

 com and Crosby, 1925, p. 527) . 



Some of the numerous winter records (mainly from the distribution 

 files of the Section of Migratory Non-Game Bird Studies, Migra- 

 tory Bird Populations Station, Laurel, Md.) north of the princi- 

 pal winter range are as follows: LaSalle, Ontario (December 15, 

 1930) ; Lome Park, Toronto, Ontario (December 26, 1960) ; Fal- 

 mouth, Maine (December 17, 1899) ; Cambridge, Mass. (December 30, 

 1896) ; Cape Cod, Mass. (December 30, 1951) ; Hillsdale, Mich. 

 (December 11, 1896) ; Detroit, Mich. (February 6, 1907) ; Port 

 Huron, Mich. (December 6, 1902) ; Vicksburg, Mich. (February 6, 

 1909) ; Prudensville, Mich. (December 7, 1938) ; Monroe County, 



