Upper part of head and hind neck olivaceous brown; a brownish-orange line from the bill to the eye; lower eyelid white; loral space, cheeks, and part of the sides of the neck bluish-grey; upper parts of the body streaked with greenish-olive and light grey, the two sides of each feather being of the latter colour; wing-coverts dull olive, tinged with grey, some of them with slight irregular whitish markings; primaries olive-brown, secondaries and tail-feathers like the back; upper part of throat yellowish-white, edged on either side with pale yellowish-brown; sides and fore part of neck bluish-grey, tinged with pale yellowish-brown; the fore part of the breast of the latter colour; lower wing-coverts, sides, hind part of abdomen, and middle lower tail-coverts undulated with deep greyish-brown and greyish-white; lateral tail-coverts with the outer webs white; tibial feathers similarly barred, but paler; middle of abdomen greyish-white; iris pale yellow. Female with the tints duller. _Male_, 15, 20-3/4. _Female_, 14, 19-1/4. Exceedingly abundant from Texas to New Jersey, breeding in all salt-water marshes. Few proceed eastward beyond Long Island. Constantly resident from the Carolinas southward. Not inland. Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 112; but not the figure, which is that of R. elegans. Clapper Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 201. Clapper Rail or Salt-water Marsh-Hen, Rallus crepitans, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 33; v. v. p. 570. 313. 3. Rallus Virginianus, Linn. Virginian Rail. 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.