Now, this making no nest is to me a convincing proof that the species is not there in its natural place, but finding itself pushed for time, and yet obliged to breed, is contented to do so under unfavourable circumstances. Dr RICHARDSON, who spent several years in the northern parts of America, did not meet with this species. I saw none in Labrador or Newfoundland; and in the British provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the only bird of this family known is the Sora, _Rallus carolinus_. GALLINULA NOVEBORACENSIS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 771. RALLUS NOVEBORACENSIS, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 335.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, American Ornith. vol. iv. p. 136, pl. 27, fig. 2. YELLOW-BREASTED RAIL, RALLUS NOVEBORACENSIS, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 402. YELLOW-BREASTED RAIL, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 402. Adult Male. Plate CCCXXIX. Bill shorter than the head, rather stout, compressed, tapering. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight, being slightly convex towards the end, the ridge narrow and convex in its whole length, the sides convex towards the end, the edges sharp, slightly overlapping, destitute of notch. Nasal groove broad, and extending to a little beyond the middle of the bill; nostrils linear, lateral, submedial, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the sides erect, the dorsal line sloping upwards, the edges a little inflected, the tip narrowed, the gape-line straight. Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Neck shortish. Body compact, deeper than broad. Feet of moderate length, rather stout; tibia bare a short way above the joint; tarsus of ordinary length, compressed, anteriorly covered with broad scutella, posteriorly with smaller, and on the sides reticulated. Hind toe small and very slender; middle toe longest, and longer than the tarsus; inner toe considerably shorter than the outer; toes free, with numerous scutella above. Claws much compressed, slightly arched, tapering to a fine point, flat and marginate beneath. Plumage rather stiff, but soft, blended, and slightly glossed above. Feathers of the forehead somewhat bristly, broad and rounded; of the hind parts elongated. Wings short, broad, concave; alula large, primaries curved, broad, abruptly rounded, the second longest, third scarcely shorter, first equal to seventh; secondaries broad and rounded, the inner elongated, some of them extending a quarter of an inch beyond the longest primary. Tail extremely short, much rounded, of _ten_ feeble rounded feathers; the upper and lower tail-coverts as long as the tail-feathers.