Plate CCV. Male, Female, and Young.
Upper parts deep brownish-black, streaked with live olive-brown; sides
of the head dull bluish-grey, loral space of a deeper tint; a
brownish-orange line to the eye; quills and primary coverts;
blackish-brown; smaller coverts dark chestnut; throat reddish-white;
fore neck and breast bright orange-brown, approaching to
yellowish-red; sides, abdomen, and lower wing-coverts barred with
brownish-black and white, the bands of the latter narrower; tibial
feathers dusky anteriorly, light reddish behind; lower tail-coverts
with a central brownish-black spot, their edges white, the tips pale
reddish. Female and young similar, but with somewhat duller tints.
_Male_, 10-1/2, 14-1/4. _Female_, 9-1/4.
Distributed through the country, and along the Atlantic shores, from
Texas to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; breeding in all the districts.
Frequents fresh and salt water. Returns southward in autumn, when
great numbers spend the winter from Carolina to Louisiana.
Virginian Rail, Rallus virginianus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii.
p. 109.
Rallus virginianus, Bonap. Syn. p. 334.
Lesser Clapper Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 205.
Virginian Rail, Rallus virginianus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p.
41; v. v. p. 573.
GENUS V. ARAMUS, Vieill. COURLAN.
Bill long, being double the length of the head, rather slender, but
strong, much compressed, straight, its breadth less before the
nostrils, than towards the point; upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight until towards the end, then slightly arcuato-declinate, the
ridge convex in its whole length, the sides nearly erect, more convex
toward the extremity, the tip blunted, the edges broad and obtuse for
half their length, sharp but thick in the rest of their extent; lower
mandible slightly ascending at the base, then direct, much compressed
toward the tip, which is acute, the angle long and very narrow, the
dorsal line slightly convex, the edges obtuse, becoming sharp towards
the end; nasal groove nearly half the length of the bill. Nostrils
direct, linear, long. Head rather small, oblong, compressed; neck long
and slender; body ovato-oblong, much compressed. Feet very long,
rather stout; tibia bare in its lower half; tarsus long, compressed,
anteriorly broadly scutellate; toes long, rather slender; hind toe
small; fourth considerably longer than second; anterior toes divided
to the base, scutellate. Claws of moderate length, very slightly
arched, compressed, tapering to a point. Plumage rather compact above,
blended beneath. Wings of moderate length, very broad, concave,
rounded; first short, falciform, with the inner web broader toward the
end; fourth quill longest; inner secondaries much elongated. Tail
short, broad, convex, rounded, of twelve broad rounded feathers.
Digestive organs as in the Rails and Gallinules.