RALLID.E — THE RAILS — PORZANA. 
367 
Char. Bill shorter than the head, compressed, straight ; nostrils in a wide groove, with a large 
membrane ; wings moderate ; primaries longer than tertials ; tail short ; legs rather robust, the 
tarsus about the length of the middle toe ; toes long, the inner one slightly shorter than the outer. 
General form compressed and slender. 
This genus contains very numerous species, inhabiting both temperate and tropical regions, fre- 
quenting marshes and borders of rivers. In the spring and autumn several species migrate in large 
numbers. 
The genus as here considered probably requires subdivision. 
P. Carolina. 
We have not at hand the required material for defining the exact limits of the genus Porzana , so 
far as its American representatives are concerned. Without, therefore, considering any of the 
extralimital species, it may suffice to say that of the three which properly belong to North Amer- 
ica, one (P. Carolina ) is a very near relative of the type of the genus (P. mwruetta of Europe and 
Greenland), while the other two are perhaps sufficiently different to justify generic separation. 
The species which occur in North America are four in number, including one which is merely a 
straggler to Greenland from the Paleearctic Region. They may lie distinguished as follows : — 
A. Above, russet-olive, with black blotches and irregular, partly longitudinal, streaks of white. 
(Porzana.) 
1. P. maruetta. Neck and breast olive, speckled with white ; flanks brown, narrowly and 
irregularly barred with white. Wing, 4.20-4.40 inches ; eulmen, .08-72 ; tarsus, 1.20- 
1.30 ; middle toe, 1.25-1.35. Hctb. Paleearctic Region ; casual in Greenland. 
2. P. Carolina. Neck and breast without white specks ; throat blackish, and sides of head 
and neck plumbeous in adult ; throat white, sides of head and neck, with jugulum and 
breast, fulvous-olive, in young ; flanks broadly barred with white and slate-color. Wing, 
4.15-4.30 inches; eulmen, .75-.90 ; tarsus, 1.25-1.35 ; middle toe, 1.30-1.45. Hah. 
North America. 
B. Above, ochraceous, with broad black stripes and narrow transverse white bars ; secondaries 
white, forming a conspicuous patch on the extended wing. (Coturnicops.) 
3. P. noveboracensis. Head, neck, and breast ochraceous ; flanks dusky, barred with 
whitish ; crissum cinnamon ; lining of wing and axillars white. Wing, 3.00-3.60 inches ; 
eulmen, .50-.60; tarsus, .95-1.00 ; middle toe, .90-1.00. Hob. Eastern North America. 
C. Above, blackish brown, speckled with white. (Creciscus.) 
4. P. jamaicensis. Nape dusky chestnut or sepia-brown; lower parts slate-color or dark 
plumbeous (the throat sometimes whitish), the posterior portions narrowly barred with 
white. 
a. jamaicensis. Back speckled with white. Wing, 2.95-3.20 inches ; eulmen, .50-. 60 ; 
depth of bill through base, .20-25 ; tarsus, .85-.90 ; middle toe, .85-. 95. Hob. Warm- 
temperate and tropical America, from the United States to Chili. 
/ 3 . coturniculus. Back without white specks. Wing, 2.50 inches ; eulmen, .60 ; depth 
of bill through base, .15 ; tarsus, .75 ; middle toe, .85. Hob. Farallon Islands, coast 
of California. 
