BOSTON (AP) -- A spokeswoman for Sen. Edward Kennedy says he is conscious and talking to family after he suffered a seizure in his Cape Cod home and was flown to a Boston hospital.

The 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat fell ill at his home in the family compound in Hyannisport Saturday morning and was rushed to a local hospital. He later was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said he is "conscious, talking, joking with family."

His wife and children are among those with him at the hospital.

Kennedy's son, Rhode Island U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, left Washington, D.C. this afternoon, on a flight to Boston to join his siblings, Edward Kennedy Jr., and Kara Kennedy, at his father's bedside, said Kennedy spokeswoman Robin Costello.

Patrick Kennedy received many messages from friends and political allies. ``He would like to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers,'' said Costello.

Also at the hospital was Sen. Kennedy's niece, Caroline, daughter of Kennedy's late brother, President John F. Kennedy Jr.

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-- With reports from Journal staff writer Scott MacKay