VIRGINIA RAIL. 
RED-BREASTED RAIL. LESSER CLAPPER RAIL. 
Rallus virginianus. 
Char. General coloration rufous. Above, tawny olive striped with 
dusky ; wing-coverts rich bay ; crown dusky ; below, light reddish brown, 
paler on the belly. Length about 7J4 inches. 
Nest. On the ground amid a tuft of grass on the marshy margin of a 
lake or stream, sometimes in a salt-marsh, usually placed close to the 
water’s edge, — a deep, saucer-shaped affair of reed-stalks and grass, and 
rather compactly built. 
Eggs. 6-12 (usually 8) ; pale cream or reddish buff, spotted with brown 
and lavender; 1.25 X 0.90. 
! 
The Virginian or Lesser Clapper Rail, scarcely distinguish- >i 
able from the preceding but by its inferior size, is likewise a 
