From Louisiana to New Jersey, in fresh-water meadows and marshes, difficult of access. Migratory.
Rallus jamaicensis, Briss. Suppl. p. 140.
Least Water Rail, Rallus jamaicensis. Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 359.
Bill much longer than the head, slender, compressed, very slightly decurved, high at the base; upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight, until towards the end, where it is slightly curved, the ridge a little flattened at the base, and extending slightly on the forehead, convex toward the end, nasal sinus forming a groove extending to two-thirds, the sides nearly erect, the edges slightly inflected, the notches very slight, the tip rather obtuse; lower mandible with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line almost straight, the sides erect and a little convex, the edges involute, the tip narrowed but obtuse. Nostrils lateral, subbasal, linear. Head, small, oblong, much compressed; neck long and slender; body slender, much compressed. Feet long; tibia, bare below; tarsus rather long, stout, compressed anteriorly covered with broad scutella; hind toe very small and tender, fourth little longer than second, anterior toes very long, scutellate, compressed. Claws of moderate length, arched, slender, much compressed, acute. Plumage rather stiff; feathers of the forehead with the shaft enlarged, and extended beyond the tip. Wings very short and broad; third quill longest. Tail very short, much rounded, of twelve feeble rounded feathers, scarcely longer than the coverts.
311. 1. Rallus elegans, Aud. Great Red-breasted Rail.--Fresh-water Marsh-Hen.
Upper part of head and hind neck dull brown; a brownish-orange line over the eye; lower eyelid white; loral space and band behind the eye dusky; upper parts of the body streaked with brownish-black and light olive-brown, the two sides of each feather being of the latter colour; wing-coverts dull chestnut; most of the irregularly tipped with white primaries deep olive-brown; secondaries and tail-feathers like the back; sides and fore part of neck, with the breast, bright orange-brown; sides of the body and lower wing-coverts undulated with deep brown and greyish-white; tibial feathers pale greyish-brown, faintly barred with darker, as is the hind part of the abdomen; lower tail-coverts white, each with a blackish-brown spot near the end, those in the middle barred with black and white. Female and young similar, but with the tints duller. Iris bright red.