214 
RALLIN^. RALLUS. 
Rallus noveboracensis, Bonap. Syn. p. 335. 
Rallus noveboracensis, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. iv. p. 136. 
Yellow-breasted Rail, Rallus noveboracensis, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer.v. ii. 
p. 402. 
Yellow-breasted Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 402. 
Yellow-breasted Rail, Rallus noveboracensis, Aun. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 25. 
310. Ortygometra Jamaicensis, Briss. Least Crake-Gal- 
linule. 
Plate CCCXLIX. Adult and Young. 
Head and lower parts dark purplish-grey^ approaching to blacky the 
sides and lower wing-coverts and abdomen^ barred with greyish- white ; 
hind neck and fore part of back dark chestnut ; the rest of the upper 
parts greyish-black tinged with brown^ and transversely barred with 
white ; the wings inclining to reddish-brown. 
Male, 6, wing, 3|. 
From Louisiana to New Jersy, in fresh-water meadows and marshes, 
difficult of access. Migratory. 
Rallus jamaicensis, Bkiss. Suppl. p. 140. 
Least Water Rail, Rallus jamaicensis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 359. 
GENUS IV. RALLUS, Linn. RAIL. 
Bill much longer than the head, slender, compressed, very 
slightly decurved, high at the base ; upper mandible with 
the dorsal line almost straight, until towards the end, where 
it is slightly curved, the ridge a little flattened at the base, 
and extending slightly on the forehead, convex toward the 
end, nasal sinus forming a groove extending to two-thirds, 
the sides nearly erect, the edges slightly inflected, the 
notches very slight, the tip rather obtuse ; lower mandible 
with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal 
line almost straight, the sides erect and a little convex, the 
edges involute, the tip narrowed but obtuse. Nostrils late- 
ral, sub-basal, linear. Head, small, oblong, much compres- 
sed ; neck long and slender ; body slender, much compres- 
sed. Feet long ; tibia bare below ; tarsus rather long, stout, 
compressed anteriorly covered with broad scutella ; hind toe 
very small and tender, fourth little longer than second, an- 
terior toes very long, scutellate, compressed. Claws of mo- 
derate length, arched, slender, much compressed, acute. 
