. A popular handbook of the birds of Canada and the United States [microform]. Oiseaux; Birds. 196 WADING Hutchins. By the fiist week in Ii'uvember their cackling ceases; and as they seem to migrate hither without delay, and with great expedition for a bird with such short wings, it is probable they proceed at once to the swamps of the Southern States. This species is not as abundant as either the Virginia Rail or the Sora, but it is not so rare as many writers have supposed. It is such a skulker and hides so quickly that it generally escapes obser- vation even when close at hand. The
. A popular handbook of the birds of Canada and the United States [microform]. Oiseaux; Birds. 196 WADING Hutchins. By the fiist week in Ii'uvember their cackling ceases; and as they seem to migrate hither without delay, and with great expedition for a bird with such short wings, it is probable they proceed at once to the swamps of the Southern States. This species is not as abundant as either the Virginia Rail or the Sora, but it is not so rare as many writers have supposed. It is such a skulker and hides so quickly that it generally escapes obser- vation even when close at hand. The bird is a summer resident of New England and the Maritime Provinces, and has been taken in the Hudson Bay district. It is quite common in Ohio, and has been found nesting in Illinois. It winters in the Southern States. BLACK RAIL. PORZANA JAMAICENSB. Char. Head, neck, and lower parts dark slate or dusky; back rich brown; wings and tail brownish black, marked with white; belly and flanks barred with white. Length about 5 inches. Aest. In a wet meadow or reedy marsh, hid amid the rank grass; a compactly made, deep cup of grass and weed stems. £^s. 8-10; dull white or creamy, marked all over with fine spoia of reddish brown; X This, the smallest of our Rails, was not mentir-ed by Nuttall, though it had been discovered long before his time, and was given by Audubon. It has always been considered a rare bird, being seldom found on the Atlantic coast, and only a few examples being seen north of New Jerse/ — in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the western division of this Eastern Province it is more common, and goes somewhat farther north; a number of nests having bees taken in northern Illinois. In habits this species does not differ materially from its congeners. Note. — The Spotted Crake (Ponana porsana), an Old World species, occasionally visits Greenland. The Corn Crake, or Land Rail {Crtx crex), also an Old World species, occurs regularly in Greenland, and has b
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