A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

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, 10¹/₂, 14¹/₄. Female, 9¹/₄.

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.

314. 1. Aramus scolopaceus, Vieill. Scolopaceous Courlan.

Plate CCCLXXVII. Male.

Bill greenish-yellow; feet leaden-grey; plumage chocolate-brown, the upper parts glossed, with purple and brown reflections; fore part of the head paler, inclining to grey, each feather with a greyish-white central line; sides of the head and throat still lighter, and a small portion of the throat whitish, these parts being streaked with greyish-brown and greyish-white; lower eyelid white; hind part and sides of neck marked with elliptical spots of white in regular series, there being one on each feather, some of them extending forwards to the posterior angle of the eye; some of the feathers on the middle of the breast and the lower wing-coverts similarly marked with lanceolate white spots; quills and tail glossy blackish-purple. Female somewhat less, but similar. Young, when fledged, of a much lighter tint; head and fore neck brownish-grey; excepting the quills, primary coverts, tail-feathers, and rump, all the plumage marked with spots of white; those on the neck elongated, on the back, wings, and breast lanceolate.