The Bird Book/Rails, Gallinules and Coots
WADING BIRDS
RAILS, GALLINULES and COOTS. Family RALLID^E
Members of this family are almost exclusively frequenters of marshes, where they lead a shy, retiring life and are more often heard than seen.
208. KING RAIL. Rallus elegans.
Range. Fresh water marshes of eastern United States from New England and the Dakotas, southward. Very abundant on the South Atlantic coast, in the inland marshes.
This is one of the largest of the Rails, (17 inches in length) and may be known by the richness of its plumage, the breast and wing coverts being a rich cinnamon color. It is almost exclusively a fresh water species and is very rarely found around a salt water marsh. Its nest is built on the ground, in a tuft of grass and weeds woven about the upright stalks. They lay from five to twelve eggs having a cream colored ground, sparingly speckled with brown and lilac. Size 1.60 x 1,20. Data. Clark County, Missouri, June 6, 1893. 10 eggs. Nest Cream color.
composed of reed stalks; a slightly concave mass 8 inches across, and only two inches above the water, in a clump of reeds. Collector, Ed. S. Currier.
2()f). BELDING'S RAIL. Rallus beldingi.
Range. Lower California and the islands in the Gulf.
This is a locally confined species, very similar to the preceding but darker and with the flank bars narrower. Its nesting or eggs will not differ from those of the King Rail.
CALIFORNIA CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus obsoletus.
Range. Salt marshes of the Pacific coast of the United States.
This species is like a dull colored King Rail, with reference to the markings of the back, or a bright colored Clapper Rail, as it has a cinnamon colored breast. It is an abundant species in nearly all the salt marshes along the coast, They make their nests on the higher parts of the marsh, where it is comparatively dry, building them of grass and strips of rushes. They lay from four to nine eggs of a light buff color, boldly spotted with brown, and with fainter markings of lilac. Size 1.75 x 1.25. Data. Palo Alto, Gal., May 1, 1899. Nest of marsh grass under a small bush on bank of slough. Collector, Ernest Adams.
Light buff.
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coast
- F 211. CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus crepitans
crepitans.
Range. Salt marshes of the Atlantic from southern New England southward.
A grayish colored Rail, about the size of, and with the markings similar to those of the King Rail. It is as exclusively a salt water species as the King Rail is a fresh water one. With the possible exception of the Carolina or Sora Rail, this is the most abundant of all the Rails, hun
Buff.
dreds nesting in a single marsh on the South Atlantic coast. Their nests are built of rushes and weeds, and are placed on the ground either in the tall grass bordering the marshes or attached to the rushes in the midst of the marsh. The nesting season commences during April and continues through May. They lay from six to fourteen eggs, of a buff color spotted irregularly with brown and gray. Size 1.70 x 1.20.
21 la. LOUISIANA CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus crepitans saturatus.
The habitation of this subspecies is limited to the coast of Louisiana. It is very similar to the proceeding but is said to be brighter in plumage.
King Rail. Clapper Rail.
21 Ib. FLORIDA CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus crepitans scotti.
Range. Western coast of Florida.
This bird is also similar to crepitans but is much darker and brighter.
21 Ic. WAYNE'S CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus crepitans waynei.
Range. South Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida.
This subspecies is a little darker than crepitans, being about midway between that species and Rallus scotti. The nests and eggs of any of these subspecies cannot be distinguished from those of the common Clapper Rail.
211.2. CARIBBEAN CLAPPER RAIL. Rallus longirostris caribaeus.
Range. West Indies and east coast of Mexico, north to southern Texas. This species is similar to the Clapper, but has a shorter and relatively stouter bill.
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WADING BIRDS
212. VIRGINIA RAIL. Rallus virginianus.
Range. Temperate North America, breeding from the Middle States and California, northward to British Columbia and Labrador, and wintering along the Gulf coast; most abundant in the east.
A small Rail, 9 inches long, very similar in markings and coloration to the King Rail. It is found chiefly in fresh water swamps, where it builds its nests in tufts of rushes. The eggs number from six to fourteen, and are
creamy white, or white,
Creamy white.
speckled with reddish brown. Size 1.25 x .90 Data. Fighting Island, Detroit River, Michigan, May 30, 1904. Nest made of marsh grass, in rushes, 6 inches above the water. Collector, E. Leroy King.
[213.] SPOTTED CRAKE. Porzana porzana.
This common European species is casually found in Greenland. It breeds in large numbers throughout temperate Europe, nesting as do the American Rails.
214. SORA. Porzana Carolina.
Range. Temperate North America, breeding from the southern parts of the British possessions, south to the Gulf coast.
This abundant species of Rail may be readily known by its small size, about eight inches long, and the black face and throat of the adult. These are the "Rail-birds" or "Ortolans" which are annually slaughtered by thousands, for sport and marketing, during their fall migration. It is only because of the large families that they rear, that they are able to withstand this ^ * . *>
yearly decimanation of their ranks. They nest either in salt of fresh water marshes, making a jj^y rude structure of grass, weeds and strips of rushes, on the ground, generally concealed in a tuft of ghass in a tangled swamp or marsh. During May, they lay from six to sixteen eggs of a bright, buffy gray color, spotted with reddish brown and lavender. Size 1.25X.90. Bright buff.
Sora Virginia Rail.
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Rich buff.
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215. YELLOW RAIL.
Coturnicops noveboracensis.
Ranrge. Locally distributed in temperate North America, from New England and Nova Scotia, to California and British Columbia; south to the Gulf States in winter.
This is a very handsome species, with plumage of glossy brown, yellowish buff, black and white; length seven inches. They are very shy and secretive, and are probably more common than generally supposed. Their nesting habits are the same as those of the preceding. Their eggs are of a rich buff color, speckled in the form of a wreath about the large end, with reddish brown. They are relatively narrower than those of other Rails. Size
1.10 x .80. Data. Benson Co., North Dakota, June 4, 1901. Set of ten eggs collected by Rev. P. B. Peabody. This set is in the collection of Mr. John Lewis Childs.
216. BLACK RAIL. Creciscus jamaicensis.
Range. Temperate North America, breeding from northern United States southward.
Smallest of the rails; 5 inches in length. A dark slaty colored bird with white specks, and a patch of dark chestnut on the fore back. This diminutive spescies is very hard to find because of its retiring habits, but according to Mr. Brewster it may be located by the clicking sound of its song.
Their nests are woven of strips of rushes or grasses, and are well "cupped" to receive the eggs. They are on the ground on the border of, or in, marshy places. Mr. Childs has a fine set of eight eggs, taken by Arthur T. Wyane, at Mt. Pleasant, S. C., June 10, 1903. The nest was located in an oat field. The eggs have a creamy white ground, and are specked all over with reddish brown. Size 1.03 x. 75.
Yellow Rail. Black Rail
[216.1.] FARALLON RAIL.
Known only from a single specimen, which is censis and without the white specks on the back.
Creciscus coturniculus.
slightly smaller than jamai
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WADING BIRDS
[217-] CORN CRAKE. Crex crex.
This European Rail is casually found in Greenland and along the Atlantic coast of North America. It is the most abundant of European Rails and is found breeding in marshes, meadows and along streams.
218. PURPLE GALLINULE. lonornis martinicus
Range. South Atlantic and Gulf States; casually north in eastern United States to Massachusetts and Ohio.
Pale buff.
A very handsome bird with purplish head, neck and under parts, and a greenish back. Like all the Gallinules and Coots, this species has a scaly crown plate. An abundant breeding species in the southern parts of its range. Its nests are made of rushes or grasses woven together and either attached to living rushes or placed in tufts of grass. They lay from six to ten eggs of a creamy or pale buff color sparingly blotched with chestnut. Size 1.60 x 1.15. Data. Avery's Island, Louisiana, May 7, 1896. Ten eggs. Nest of dry rushes, woven to standing ones growing around an "alligator hole" in a marsh. Collector, E. A. Mcllhenny.
Purple Gallinule. Corn Crake.
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21Q. FLORIDA GALLINULE. Gallinula galeata.
Range Temperate North America, from New England, Manitoba and California, southward.
A grayish colored bird of similar size to the last (13 inches long), with flanks streaked with white, and with the bill and crown plate reddish. They nest in colonies in marshes and swamps, building their nests like those of the Purple Gallinule. The eggs, too, are similar, but larger and slightly duller. Size 1.75x1.20. Data. Montezuma marshes, Florida, June 6, 1894. Eleven eggs. Nest of dead flaggs, floating in two feet of water. Collector, Robert Warwick.
Pale buff.
[220.] EUROPEAN COOT. Fulica atra.
A European species very similar to the next, and only casually found in Greenland. Nesting the same as our species.
Florida Gallinule. Coot.
Grayish.
221. COOT. Fulica americana.
Range. Whole of temperate North America, from the southern parts of the British Provinces, southward; very common in suitable localities throughout its range.
The Coot bears some resemblance to the Florida Gallinule, but is somewhat larger, its bill is white with a blackish band about the middle, and each toe has a scalloped web. They inhabit the same marshes and sloughs that are used by the Rails and Gallinules as nesting places, and they have the same retiring habits, skulking through the grass to avoid observation, rather than flying. Their nests are either floating piles of decayed vegetation, or are built of dead rushes in clumps of rushes on the banks. They generally build in large colonies. The eggs number from six to sixteen and have
a grayish ground color, finely specked all over the surface with blackish. 1.80x1.30.
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Size
Greenish buff