72 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
Habitat .—Eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Hudson’s Bay west to 
Utah and Nevada. No extra-limital record except Cuba and the Bermudas. 
Birds of this species are occasionally taken about our rivers and 
meadows during* the spring* and fall migrations. I have seen two speci¬ 
mens which were captured in the early part of July, 1882, in Delaware 
county, near Chester city. It is possible that this little rail sometimes 
breeds in Pennsylvania, yet I have no positive information to this effect. 
The eggs, according to different writers, vary from six to ten, and are 
described as creamy buff, marked at the larger end with reddish spots, 
and measure about 1.13 by .82 inches. 
Porzana jamaicensis (Gmel.). 
Black Rail. 
Description. 
“Upper parts blackish, finely speckled and barred with white, the hind neck and 
fore back dark chestnut. Head and under parts dark slate color, paler or whitening 
on the throat, the lower belly, flanks, and under wing and tail-coverts barred with 
white. Quills and tail-feathers with white spots.. Very small; length about ; 
wing 2£ to 3 ; tail 1^; tarsus l.”—Cone's Key. 
Habitat .—Temperate North America, north to Massachusetts, northern Illinois 
and Oregon ; south to West Indies and in western South America to Chili. 
This diminutive, shy and secretive bird—the smallest of our North 
A merican rails—is said to have been found, many years ago, breeding 
in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, by the late John Krider. I have 
seen two specimens which were shot in September, on the Delaware, 
near Chester city. Dr. John W. Detwiller, of Bethlehem, has captured 
this species in his locality; George B. Boss, of Lebanon, says that 
he has taken two in Lebanon county, one, August, 1879, the other Au¬ 
gust, 1880. I have never seen the eggs of the Black Bail. Mr. Bidg- 
way* says they number “about nine, 1.01 by .79, white or buffy white^ 
sprinkled, or finely speckled, chiefly on the larger end, with dark red¬ 
dish-brown or chestnut.” 
Subfamily GALLINULINJG. Gallinules. 
THE GALLINULES. 
The Gallinules are found in the same localities as the rails, to which they are quite 
similar in habits. Two species occur in the United States, and both are found in 
Pennsylvania. They have a broad, bare, and often highly colored horny plate on 
the forehead ; bill short and similar in shape to birds of the genus Porzana. Feet 
large and stout; toes long, “and in G. galeata with a slight marginal membrane.” 
Gallinules nest in marshes, and lay many yellowish or buff-colored and spotted eggs. 
* Manual of North American Birds, p. 140. 
