Bid gw ay on Rallus Longirostris. 
139 
The Pacific Coast bird, described by me in 1874 (cf. Am. Nat., 
VIII, p. Ill) as “ R. elegans var. obsoletus,” proves to be a true 
“Clapper” Bail, strictly confined to the salt-water marshes; and 
were it not for the very wide interval of territory separating it from 
any race of R. longirostris , it might be classed as a form of the 
latter species. In view of its complete isolation, however, taken 
together with its peculiar characters of coloration and form, it seems 
best to regard it as a distinct species. 
In the following synopsis are included not only R. longirostris and 
its races, but also all the] other known North American members of 
the genus. 
A . Size large ( wing more than 5 inches ). 
a. Axillars and flanks dusky or reddish umber, with broad white bars 
(bars about .15 of an inch wide on the flanks), or narrow reddish-white 
and pale cinnamon bars. 
1. R. elegans. Back and scapulars ochraceous-olive, or yellowish- 
drab, sharply and conspicuously striped with black ; breast deep cinnamon. 
a. var. elegans. Flanks and sides dusky-brownish, widely and distinctly 
barred with pure white. Wing, 5.90-6.80; culmen, 2.12-2.50; least 
depth of bill, .27 - .35 ; tarsus, 2.20 - 2.40 ; middle toe, 1.80 - 2.10. Hab., 
freshwater marshes of Eastern North America. 
b. var. tenuirostris* Flanks and sides reddish-umber, narrowly and 
indistinctly barred with reddish-white and dilute cinnamon ; breast and 
neck more deeply and uniformly cinnamon than in elegans. Wing, 5.90 ; 
culmen, 2.00-2.10; least depth of bill, .22; tarsus, 1.80-1.90; middle 
toe, 1.70. Hab., Mexico (Mazatlan, and city of Mexico). 
b. Axillars and flanks brownish-gray or grayish-brown, with narrow white 
bars (about .10 of an inch wide on flanks). 
2. R. obsoletus.f Back and scapulars grayish-olive, indistinctly striped 
with dusky; breast, deep cinnamon. Wing, 6.40-6.60; culmen, 2.25- 
2.50; least depth of bill, .32 -.35 ; tarsus, 2.10 -2.25 ; middle toe, 2.00- 
2.15. Hab., salt-water marshes of California. 
3. R. longirostris. Back and scapulars light hair-brown, brownish- 
gray, or ashy, obsoletely striped with brown (in Gulf-Coast specimens 
distinctly striped with dusky, much as in R. obsoletus) ; breast pale buff or 
dull cinnamon. 
a. var. longirostris. Above olive-gray, distinctly striped with van- 
* Rallus elegans tenuirostris, Lawr. 
Ballus elegans var. tenuirostris, Lawk., Am. Nat., VIII, Feb. 1874, p. Ill 
(city of Mexico). 
t Rallus obsoletus, Ridgw. 
Rallus elegans var. obsoletus, Eidgw., Am. Nat., VIII, Feb. 1874, p. Ill 
(coast of California). 
