“The most remarkable part of the history of this individual is, that after its death we should have discovered in dissection that it was a male, rendering it singularly curious that _he_ should have suffered himself to be captured by hand while in defence of the young brood. “There is now in the Museum a specimen of this species, which has been in the collection for about thirty years, said to have been caught in the vicinity of the city. It stands labelled ‘Little Rail, _Rallus minutus_, Turton’s Linn;’ but the authenticity of the specimen has always been disputed by BONAPARTE and others, because none else had been found; and the author just named expressed a belief that it was an immature specimen of _Rallus (Crex) Porzana_ of Europe. “I regret that I should have mislaid the measurements of the specimen when recent, if any were taken, and cannot lay my hands on them, or any thing more than the above notes. Respectfully yours, &c. TITIAN R. PEALE.” Inclosed in Mr PEALE’s letter was the following note from Dr ROWAN “to the Messrs PEALES.” “On Saturday last I wrote to you of the Rail Bird breeding near this place. I then described one that I caught last summer, which was unlike the Rail in the fall season, and I presumed that all in the wet ground were the same, but this day my men mowing around the pond started up two of the usual kind. The hen flew a few rods, and then flew back to her young in an instant, when they caught her together with her four young, which I herewith send you. Many more can be caught. I have seen them in our meadow every month of the year, but they never make a great noise except when very fat on the wild oat’s seed. From the above you will conclude that they do not migrate to the south, but breed here. Respectfully, THOMAS ROWAN.” RALLUS JAMAICENSIS, _Brisson_ Sup. p. 140.—_Gmel._ Syst. Nat. vol. ii. p. 718.—_Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 761. Adult Male. Plate CCCXLIX. Fig. 1. Bill shorter than the head, rather stout, compressed, tapering. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight, being slightly convex toward the end, the ridge narrow and convex in its whole length, the sides convex towards the end, the edges sharp, the tip rather acute. Nasal groove 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.