216 
RALLIN^. ARAMUS. 
tail- coverts undulated with deep greyish-brown and greyish- white ; 
lateral tail-coverts with the outer webs white ; tibial feathers simi- 
larly barredj but paler ; middle of abdomen greyish- white ; iris pale 
yellow. Female with the tints duller. 
Male^ 15, 20|. Female, 14:, 19i. 
Exceedingly abundant from Texas to New Jersey^ breeding in all 
salt-water marshes. Few proceed eastward beyond Long Island. 
Constantly resident from the Carolinas southward. Not inland. 
Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans, WiLS. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 112 5 but not the figure, 
which is that of R. elegans. 
Clapper Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 201. 
Clapper Rail or Salt-water Marsh-Hen, Rallus crepitans, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. 
p. 33 ; V. V. p. 570. 
313. 3. Rallus Virginianus, Linn. Virginian Rail, w 
Plate CCV. Male, Female, and Young. 
Upper parts deep brownish-black, streaked with live olive-brown ; 
sides of the head dull bluish-grey, loral space of a deeper tint ; a 
brownish-orange line to the eye ; quills and primary coverts ; blackish- 
brown ; smaller coverts dark chestnut ; throat reddish- white ; fore 
neck and breast bright orange-brown, approaching to yellowish-red ; 
sides, abdomen, and lower wing-coverts barred with brownish-black 
and white, the bands of the latter narrower ; tibial feathers dusky an- 
teriorly, light reddish behind ; lower tail-coverts with a central brown- 
ish-black spot, their edges white, the tips pale reddish. Female and 
young similar, but with somewhat duller tints. 
Male, lOL 14^. Female, 9i. 
Distributed through the country, and along the Atlantic shores, from 
Texas to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; breeding in all the dis- 
tricts. Frequents fresh and salt water. Returns southward in au- 
tumn, when great numbers spend the winter from Carolina to Loui- 
siana. 
Virginian Raii, Rallus virginianus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 109. 
Rallus virginianus. Bo nap. Syn. p. 334. 
Lesser Clapper Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 205, 
Virginian Rail, Rallus virginianus, Aun. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 41 v. v. p. 573. 
GENUS V. ARAMUS, Vieill. COURLAN. 
Bill long, being double the length of the head, rather 
slender, but strong, much compressed, straight, its breadth 
less before the nostrils, than towards the point ; upper man- 
dible with the dorsal line straight until towards the end, 
then slightly arcuato-declinate, the ridge convex in its whole 
