430 
CAROLINA RAIL. 
and difficult to rear, as they require considerable attention, especially at night, when they 
should be kept warm. The Virginia Rails are migratory, disappearing from New England 
by the last of September. 
GENUS II. PORZANA. THE SHORT-BILLED RAILS. 
Gen. Ch. Bill , not as long as head, not grooved nor curved, is rather thick at base but has no frontal plate. Toes, 
not margined nor lobated. Keel, twice as high as width of sternum. Marginal indentations, narrow but deep. 
Members of this genus have the glands of the proventriculus arranged in annular band which is without rounded pro¬ 
jections in front. The sterno-trachealis is present, and there is a small bronchialis. Tympaniform membrane, also pres¬ 
ent. Sexes, similar. There are three species within our limits. 
PORZANA CAROLINA. 
Carolina Rail. 
Porzana Carolina Cab., Journ.; 1856, 428. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, slender. Size, medium. Tongue, not very long, rather fleshy, and narrowing gradually to tip which 
is rounded. 
Color. Adult. Line back of eye and upper parts, brownish-yellow, broadly streaked with brown and dotted with 
white. Wings, brown with the outer primaries edged with white. Line on top of head, space aroun<Lbill and line down 
throat, black. Breast and sides of head and neck, slaty-blue. Remainder of under parts, white, banded with greenish 
and dusky on sides and flanks. Under tail coverts, reddish-buff. Young. Similar, but are overwashed with reddish below 
and lacks the black markings about head and throat. Iris, brown. Bill,yellow. Legs, greenish. Nestlings. Are cov¬ 
ered with black down and have a tuft of orange colored bristles at base of bill. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Readily known by the medium size, short, thick bill, and colors as described, 
southward. Winters in the South. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Distributed, in summer, from Canada 
Average measurements of specimens from Eastern United States. Length, 8'75; stretch, 13'75; wing, 4"25; tail, l'95; 
bill, '85; tarsus, 1'35. Longest specimen, 9'00; greatest extent of wing, 14'50; longest wing, 4'42; tail, 2 16; bill, '90; tar¬ 
sus, 1'40. Shortest specimen, 8'50; smallest extent of wing, 13'00; shortest wing, 4'15; tail, 1'75; bill, '75; tarsus, 1'25. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of grass, weeds, etc. Eggs, six to ten in number, oval in 
form, reddish-buff in color, dotted and spotted, irregularly, but sparcely, with reddish-brown and lilac. Dimensions from 
•85 x 1-20 to'95x1-25. 
HABITS. 
Although the Carolina Rails differ somewhat in structure from the Virginia, they re¬ 
semble them in many habits; both rise when first disturbed, fly in a straight line a short 
distance, with dangling legs, and drop into the grass, after which it is difficult to make 
them start a second time, and both inhabit similar places, but the present species is in¬ 
clined to prefer open meadows which are free from bushes. The Virginias are also almost 
exclusively fresh water birds, while the Carolinas are equally abundant on both salt and 
fresh mashes, but prefer the latter as breeding grounds. All the Rails swim and dive well 
but I think the Carolinas rather excel them all in this respect, for they will not only hike 
readily to the water, but will pass beneath it with great facility, and I once saw one run 
nimbly along the bottom of a brook, the water of which was about a foot deep, by cling¬ 
ing to aquatic plants, and crossing it obliquely, emerged on the other side, thus passing 
over some fifteen feet while submerged. I have also seen these Rails run rapidly over the 
surface of the water, where there were a few plants to afford them a slight support. These 
Rails migrate from New England with the first hard frosts, after which they gather in im¬ 
mense numbers on the salt marshes of New Jersey, but gradually pass southward, occuring 
