194 
VIRGINIAN RAIL. 
f (Rallus Virginianus.) 
Ra. superne J'uscus, hifra fusco-riifescens, rectricibus fuscu, su- 
perciliis gulaque albis. 
Rail above brown, beneath reddish-brown, the tail-feathers brown, 
the eyebrows and throat white. 
Rallus Virginianus. Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 263. Gmel. Si/sf. Nat. 
1. 716. Briss. Orn. 5. 175. 
Rallus aquaticus. (3. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 755. 
Rallus Pennsylvanicus. Briss. Orn. Supj). 138. 
American Water Rail. Ediv. Birds, pi. 279. 
Virginian Rail. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 408. Lath. Gen. Sijn. 5. 
228. mis. Amer. Orn. 7. 109. 7;^. Ixii.y: 1. 
Given as a variety of the preceding by Latham, 
in his. Index, but it is considerably smaller than that 
bird, and differs in many other respects, as shown by 
the following description. It is ten inches in length : 
its beak dusky red : cheeks and line above the eyes 
ash-colour ; lores and near the lower eyelid white : 
irides red : crown and all the upper parts black, 
streaked with brown, the centre of each feather being 
black : wing-coverts hazel-brown, inclining to ches- 
nut : quills plain deep dusky : chin white : throat, 
breast, and belly orange-brown : sides and vent black, 
tipped with white : legs and feet dull red-brown : 
edge of the bend of the wing white. The female 
is somewhat less, and differs in having the breast 
much paler, and more white on the chin and throat. 
Native of North America, where it is migratory : 
it appears in Pennsylvania early in May, and leaves 
