OoL®o«tO» Soc. Nat. History, 
Rallus elegans. King Rail. — A bird, in worn plumage, was captured 
in a steel trap at Peabody, Mass., on March 13, 190^ 
Acdfc 26, A*r-i©o#,*. 
Another King Rail in Massachusetts. — Mr. Richard M. Russell shot a 
King Rail ( Rallus elegans) on Sandy Neck, West Barnstable, Mass., on 
December 30 or 31, 1909. This is I believe the ninth record for the State. 
The bird was very emaciated when shot, and quite tame. Mr. Russell 
has deposited the specimen, mounted, in this Museum from which it will 
be transferred to the Boston Society of Natural History — R. Heber 
Howe, Jr., Thoreau Museum, Concord, Mass. ABk 27. Jul3/“18iO p. 
33 ?- 
King Rail ( Rallus elegans). — I received a fine adult male this fall from 
Chatham, Mass., where it was shot on October 31, 1909, by Mr. Russell 
Bearse. The King Rail seems to be a rather uncommon straggler from the 
South and there are but few recent records of its having been taken here. 
Mr. F. H. Kennard records in ‘The Auk,’ Vol. XXV, p. 218, a male being 
taken at Needham, October 10, 1907, and in the collection of the Boston 
Society of Natural History is a bird taken in a steel trap at Peabody, Mass., 
March 13, 1908. The specimen to which I refer taken at Chatham is also 
in the above collection. Mr. Bearse also informed me that on December 
28, 1908, he killed another King Rail at Chatham which was given to 
Mr. Warren E. Freeman of Arlington, Mass. This latter seems like a very 
late date. 
Auk 37, Apr-1910 p. 
Early Occurrence of Rails in Massachusetts. — On August 26, 1913, 
a Yellow Rail ( Coturnicops noveboracensis) was taken in Longmeadow near 
Springfield, Mass., and on the 22d. of the same month, a King Rail, Rallus 
elegans, was captured in the same town. 
These are the earliest autumnal dates recorded for the appearance of 
either of these species of birds in this part of the Connecticut Valley, 
although I believe that both kinds are more often represented here than 
is generally supposed, and it is possible that they breed here. 
In Massachusetts, under a very unwise state statute purporting to be for 
the protection of certain kinds of so-called marsh birds, the open season for 
Rallidse begins as early as August 1, and on that day in Longmeadow, 
a sportsman caught a young Virginia Rail that was still in the downy state, 
and probably not more than ten days old. — Robert O. Morris, Spring- 
field, Mass. 30,001, 1913, P. 
King Rail ( Rallus elegans) in Massachusetts in November. — On the 
12th day of November, 1914, a King Rail was captured in Longmeadow. 
This is the latest time in the autumn that the presence of one of these birds 
has been noted in this region. Early writers on bird life in Massachusetts 
placed the King Rail in the class of birds whose presence in this State was 
accidental, and with only two records of their appearance in any part of 
the State, while now there are in collections here a half a dozen specimens 
of this bird that have been taken in the vicinity of Springfield in recent 
years. — Robert O. Morris, Springfield, Mass. 
xxx///. / 9/ 6 7 /9S. 
