380 ALECTORIDES. 



It has also been taken in the Bermudas. Major Wedderburn met with it in the 

 PembrDke Marsh, Nov. 19, 1847. He saw another in tlie same phxce, in October, the 

 following year ; a third soon after at the Sluice Tonds ; and Mr. Hurdis j^rocured 

 one, Nov. 10, 1852, also at Tembroke Marsh. 



It has only recently been credited with a New England residence. Mr. J. H. Batty 

 informs me that he has taken it in Connecticut. He says : " I have never taken but 

 two of this species. I shot them both in a fresh-water marsh, several years ago, at 

 Hazardville, Conn. I had never observed them before that time, nor have I met 

 with them since. They were breeding, as I saw several of their young, and caught one 

 of tliem, which I examined and let go again. This was in the latter part of June." 

 It has since been recorded by iMr. H. A. Pnrdie as taken at Saybrook, Conn., on the 

 authority of Mr. J. H. Clark, who wrote him that a neighbor of his, while mowing at 

 that place, July 10, 1876, swung his scythe over a nest of ten eggs on Avhich the bird 

 was sitting, cutting off the bird's head and breaking all but four of the eggs. It has 

 also recently been recorded from Clark's Island, Plymouth Harbor, Mass., where a 

 specimen was obtained in August, 1869. 



Mr. Nelson refers to the Little Black Rail as a species of not very rare occurrence 

 in Northern Illinois, Avliere it breeds. During the spring of 1875 he met with three 

 specimens in the Calumet marshes ; the first was seen early in May. In the same 

 season, on the 19tli of June, Mr. Nelson states that Mr. Frank De Witt, while collect- 

 ing with him n(\ar the Calumet River, Avas so fortunate as to discover a nest of this 

 species that contained ten freshly laid eggs. The nest had been constructed in a deep 

 cup-shaped deju'ession in a perfectly open situation on the border of a marshy spot, 

 and its only concealment was that furnished by a few straggling Carices. It was com- 

 posed of soft grass-blades, loosely interwoven in a rounded shape. The nest, in its 

 form and manner of construction, was similar to that of a Meadow-lark. Mr. Nelson 

 describes it as having an inside depth of 2.50 inches ; inside diameter, 3.25 ; outside 

 depth, 3.50 ; outside diameter, 4.50. The eggs are said to be of a creamy white, 

 and to average 1.00 inch by .81, being of a nearly perfect oval, and thinly sprinkled 

 with fine reddish-broAvn dots, which become larger and more numerous toward the 

 larger end. Minute shell-markings in the form of dots Avere also visible. Probably 

 in consequence of the small size of the depression in which the nest was inclosed, the 

 eggs were in two layers. 



Mr. Henshaw states that this Rail appears to be as numerous in California as in 

 any other part of its habitat. From information given by Mr. Gruber, he judges it 

 to be rather common in the extensive tule swamps of that State. It has also been 

 found by Mr. Gruber on the Farallon Islands. Its small size and skulking habits, as 

 Avell as the nature of its swampy retreat, render the procuring of specimens difficult. 

 Mr. Mathewson informed Dr. Cooper that he has frequently obtained it at Martinez 

 in the fall and in Avinter. 



Dr. James Trudeau informed Mr. Audubon that this species arrives in Louisiana, 

 in company with the Yellow-breasted Rail, about the end of October, and is very 

 common in marshes in the vicinity of woods. It migrates northward in the begin- 

 ning of March, and a great number of this species are said to breed in the vicinity 

 of Salem, N. J. 



An egg in my collection, obtained by Mr. Ashmead in the neighborhood of Phila- 

 delphia, and given me by Mr. Cassin (No. 564), has a ground-color of a light cream 

 or creamy white, over Avhich are generally distributed fine markings or minute specks 

 of a broAvnish red ; these are most numerous at the larger end. The egg is oval in 

 shape, is tapering at one end, and measures 1.00 inch in length bv .75 in breadth. 



