160 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



(Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, II, 1898, 7); and there is a mounted specimen in 

 the Barron collection at Niles, which was examined by the writer in Novem- 

 ber, 1905. This specimen has no label, but undoubtedly was taken in the 

 vicinity. 



There are two specimens in the Museum of Hope College, Holland, Ottawa 

 Co., taken by Mr. Arthur G. Baumgartel in that immediate vicinity, April 

 21 and 28, 1896. Mr. Baumgartel also states, in a letter dated September 

 13, 1907, that a third specimen was killed but Avas lost in the mud. Still 

 another Yellow Rail was taken alive, but injured, on the university 

 campus at Ann Arbor, Sept. 30, 1908, and was mounted for the museum 

 by Norman A. Wood. One other record is that of a female caught by a 

 dog, Mar. 25, 1908, just north of the city limits of Detroit, and now in the 

 collection of P. A. Taverner (Auk, XXV, 1908,^327). 



Jerome Trombley, Petersburg, Mich., has a set of four eggs, which in 

 size and coloration meet perfectly the requirements for this species, and 

 which were taken May 29, 1894, in the township of Ida, Monroe county, 

 Mich. Mr. Trombley did not take the eggs himself, but his collector 

 described the bird which was flushed from the nest, and his description 

 tallied well with that of the Yellow Rail. The situation was in a large 

 cranberry marsh, and the nest was fastened to the tops of the long marsh- 

 grass, the bottom resting on, or just reaching the water. It was composed 

 entirely of marsh grass. Mr. Trombley says " From the size and appearance 

 of both the bird and eggs the evidence is fairly conclusive, although it is 

 not absolutely certain that the bird was a Yellow Rail." 



This species has been taken somewhat frequently in Ontario, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien 

 and Hollister, ''This little Rail is not nearly so rare as generally supposed, 

 though by no means common. We have authentic records for Racine, 

 Milwaukee, Elm Grove, Delavan, Janesville, Milton, etc., and even breed- 

 ing records as far north as Brown county (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 39). 

 Butler says "Those who have met with the Yellow Rail agree that it is 

 the dryer marshes, or wet prairies or meadows, that it prefers; the more 

 decidedly marshy ground is frequented by the larger rails" (Birds of In- 

 diana, 1897, 678). According to Ridgway, the "eggs are six or more, 

 creamy-buff, densely sprinkled and speckled on the larger end with rusty 

 brown. They average 1.12 by .83 inches." 



The species, though widely distributed over the United States, appears 

 not to be common anywhere. It is even more difficult to find and to flush 

 than the Virginia Rail, and specimens are rarely found without the aid 

 of a good dog. Few people have studied the bird enough to recognize 

 its note when heard, and so it is not likely to be detected except by syste- 

 matic and prolonged search in favorable localities. Of course one may be 

 found accidentally, but this is most likely to happen in the case of some 

 sportsman who does not appreciate the importance of the find and makes 

 no record of it. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Head, neck and breast brownish yellow, unmarked; ground color of upper 

 parts the same, but heavily streaked with black and crossed with numerous narrow bars 

 of[ white; flanks brownish black, barred with white; secondaries white; under tail-coverts 

 light brown. Sexes alike. Length 6 to 7.75 inches; wing 3 to 3.60; culmen .50 to .60; 

 tarsus .95 to 1.00. 



