GENUS PORZANA VIEILLOT. SUBGENUS PORZANA. PORZANA CAROLINA (LINN.). 82. Sora. (214) Above, olive-brown, varied with black, with numerous sharp white streaks and specks; flanks, axillars and lining of wings, barred with white and blackish; belly, whitish; crissum, rufescent. Adult:-With the face and central line of the throat black, the rest of the throat, line over eye, and especially the breast more or less intensely slate-gray, the sides of the breast usually with some obsolete whitish barring and speckling. Young-Without the black, the throat whitish, the breast brown. Length, 8-9; wing, 4-45; tail, about 2; bill, -; tarsus, 14; middle toe and claw, 1. HAB. --Temperate North America, but most common in the Eastern Province, breeding chiefly northward. South to West Indies and northern South America. Builds a rude nest of grass and rushes on the ground near the water. Here, as elsewhere, the Sora is the most numerous of the Rail family, and is found breeding in all suitable places throughout the country. Many also pass up north, and when they return in the fall, accompanied by their young, they linger in the marshes along the southern border till they are found swarming everywhere. They are very sensitive to cold, and a sportsman may have good rail shooting till late in the evening, but should a sharp frost set in during the night, he may return in the morning and find that the birds have all left. Many spend the summer in the North-West, but they are most abundant in the Middle Atlantic States, where great numbers are killed for the table in the fall. In Southern Ontario they arrive in May, and leave in September at the first touch of frost. SUBGENUS COTURNICOPS BONAPARTE. PORZANA NOVEBORACENSIS (GM.). 83. Yellow Rail. (215) Above, varied with blackish and ochrey-brown, and thickly marked with narrow white semicircles and transverse bass; below, pale ochrey-brown, fading on the belly, deepest on the breast where many of the feathers are tipped with dark brown; flanks, rufous with many white bars; lining of the wing, white; a brownish-yellow streak over the eye. Length, about 6 inches; wing, 34; tail, 14; bill, . HAB.-Eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Hudson's Bay west to Utah and Nevada. No extra-limital record except Cuba and the Bermudas. Nest, like that of the other rails. Eggs, six to eight, dark buff color, marked with reddish spots at the greater end. We know little of this bird, partly because it belongs to a class much given to keeping out of sight, but chiefly because it is a rare species everywhere. During the present year, I saw a fine mounted specimen in the store of Mr. Cross, taxidermist, Toronto. It was obtained in the marsh near that city, and I have heard of another which a few years ago was shot near the same place, and is now in the public museum at Ottawa. The greater number of specimens of the Yellow Rail now in existence have been found in New England, but that may be owing to the greater number of collectors there. would be well for our Canadian sportsmen to look out for the species when visiting its haunts, because from its general resemblance to the Sora, it may readily be overlooked. It One observer reports it as a tolerably common summer resident near Winnipeg, and it has also been noticed at Fort George by Dr. Bell. It has, therefore, a wide distribution, but is nowhere abundant. SUBGENUS CRECISCUS CABONIS. PORZANA JAMAICENSIS (GMEL.). 84. Black Rail. (216) Upper parts, blackish, finely speckled and barred with white; the hind neck and fore neck, dark chestnut; head and under parts, dark slate color, paler or whitening on the throat; the lower belly, flanks and under wing and tail covert barred with white; quills and tail feathers with white spots, very small. Length, about 5.50; wing, 2.75-3.00; tail, 1.35; tarsus, 0.75. HAB.-South and Central America and West Indies. Nest, in a deep cup-shaped depression resembling that of the Meadow Lark, only deeper in proportion to its width; the outer portion composed of grassstems and blades, the inner portion of soft blades of grass arranged in a circular manner and loosely interwoven. Eggs, ten, clear white, thinly sprinkled with reddish-brown dots which become more numerous toward the greater end. This is one of the rarest of American birds, or, rather, it is one of those least frequently found. From its small size and the fact that its life is spent mostly among the rank vegetation of the marsh, where it cannot be seen, it may not be so rare as we suppose. I mention it here on the authority of the late Dr. Cottle, of Woodstock, who, in an article in the Canadian Journal for September, 1859, claims to have found a bird of this species near Ingersoll in 1857, which at the time of his writing was in the collection of Wm. Poole, jun. I have not seen this specimen, but I knew Dr. Cottle, and feel sure that no mistake would be made in the identification. There is no reason why the Black Rail should not be found in Ontario, for it occurs to the east and west of us, and will yet, I expect, be found in one or more of the many suitable haunts which occur throughout the Province. The Dundas marsh is exactly the sort of place where one might expect to meet with this species. The marsh extends from the Hamilton city limits about four miles westward to the town of Dundas, and has an average width of a mile, with many inlets winding inland. The banks are generally steep and wooded, and the water in the summer is covered with aquatic plants and clumps of floating bog. Malaria reigns there, and there are mosquitoes in abundance. About 1873-74, I heard that a young man, named Nash, was diligently exploring this uninviting locality, to find out what birds were there during the summer, and that he had been successful in his researches; but he left for the North-West about that time, and the matter was forgotten. On learning that Mr. Nash had quite recently returned to reside in Toronto, I wrote to him on the subject, and promptly received the following reply, which came to me while the first part of this article was passing through the hands of the printer: "THOS. MCILWRAITH, Esq. "TORONTO, January 12th, 1894. "DEAR SIR,-My original note as to the capture of the Black Rails is as follows: 666 “August 18th, 1874.-Shot four of these birds this evening at the upper end of the Dundas marsh. My dogs put them up where the rushes had been mowed. This is the first time I ever noticed them here.' "After this date I saw several others about the same place, during this same year (1874). I also shot a few Yellow Rails, and saw many. There hash buds are young Smas. Jas H. Fleming. 1-1-1907. "Yours, etc., "C. W. NASH." PURPLE GALLINULE-FLORIDA GALLINULE. 123 SUBFAMILY GALLINULINÆ. GENUS IONORNIS REICHENBACH. 85. Purple Gallinule. (218) Head, neck and under parts beautiful purplish-blue, blackening on the belly, the crissum white; above olivaceous-green, the cervix and wing coverts tinted with blue; frontal shield blue; bill red, tipped with yellow; legs yellowish. Young: With the head, neck and lower back brownish, the under parts mostly white, mixed with ochrey. Length, 10-12; wing, 6-7; tail, 24-3; bill from gape, about 14; tarsus, about 24; middle-toe and claw, about 3. HAB.-South Atlantic and Gulf States, north casually to New England (Maine, Nova Scotia) and Ontario. Nest, built among rushes over the water; the taller rushes are bent down and woven together as a support. Eggs, eight or nine, cream color, finely dotted with chestnut-brown and umber. In April, 1892, I received a letter from Pickering, describing a bird which had recently been shot by Mr. James Cowan, at the mouth of the Rouge in that township, and asking me to identify it. The description was so perfectly correct that I had no difficulty in deciding it to be the Purple Gallinule, though I had not before heard of its occurrence in Ontario, and I replied to that effect. I have since learned that the specimen is now mounted and located somewhere in Toronto. This beautiful Gallinule is a resident of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, but occasionally strays as far north as Ohio, Wisconsin, Maine and New York. It is a very handsome bird, whose presence in our marshes would add to their interest, but we are too far north to expect it, save as a very rare visitor. GENUS GALLINULA BRISSON. 86. Florida Gallinule. (219) Head, neck and under parts grayish-black, darkest on the former, paler or whitening on the belly; back, brownish-olive; wings and tail dusky; crissum edge of wing, and stripes on the flank, white; bill, frontal plate, and ring around tibiæ red, the former tipped with yellow; tarsi and toes, greenish; 12-15 long; wing, 6-7; tail, 3; gape of bill, about 1; tarsus, about 2. HAB.-Temperate and tropical America from Canada to Brazil and Chili. Nest, a mass of broken, rotten reeds and rushes, with a slight hollow in the centre; it is seldom much above water level, and often afloat, but is fastened to the sedges. Eggs, ten to twelve, brownish-buff, thickly spotted with reddish-brown. This is a common summer resident, breeding in suitable places throughout Southern Ontario. Near Hamilton it is quite common, a few pairs generally spending the summer in the Waterdown creek, and also in the Dundas marsh. Its retired haunts are seldom invaded during the summer months, for the mosquitoes form a bar to the intrusion of visitors, and its flesh not being in demand for the table, it is not much disturbed. Southern Ontario seems to be the northern limit of its habitat. It is not mentioned among the birds of Manitoba, neither have I heard of it appearing elsewhere in the north. Like most of its class, it arrives in May and leaves in September. SUBFAMILY FULICINÆ. GENUS FULICA LINNEÆUS. FULICA AMERICANA GMEL. 87. American Coot. (221) Dark slate, paler or grayish below, blackening on the head and neck, tinged with olive on the back; crissum, whole edge of wing, and top of the secondaries white; bill, white or flesh-colored, marked with reddish-black near the end; feet, dull olivaceous. Young:-Similar, paler and duller. Length, about 14; wing, 7-8; tail, 2; bill, from the gape, 14-14; tarsus, about 2; middle toe and claw, about 3. HAB.--North America, from Greenland and Alaska southward to West Indies and Central America. Nest, of vegetable rubbish from the marsh, often afloat and fastened to the rushes like the Grebes, but sometimes on dry ground back from the water. Eggs, ten to twelve, clear clay color, dotted minutely with dark brown. This species is very generally distributed in suitable places throughout Ontario, and also in the North-West. It breeds abundantly at St. Clair, but at Hamilton is only a migratory visitor in spring and fall. They are hardy birds, often arriving in spring before the ice is quite away, and again lingering late in the fall, as if unwilling to depart. They are sometimes mistaken for ducks by amateur gunners, and in this way a few lose their lives, but except in such cases they |