l-resli f^gs may be IoiiikI from the tir>t day (jf April to July, the time var\ing 

 according to locality and season. On or about the eighteenth of May is the best 

 period to study the nesting habits of this rail in northern Illinois and Indiana. 

 Usually a complete set of eggs, ranging from eight to fourteen in number, has 

 been laid and the parents have begun the duties of incubation, which cover a 

 period of three weeks. 



Clumps of tlead rushes, fallen reeds or tussocks of marsh grass are favorite 

 nesting places, and so attached do the birds become to some selected corner of the 

 marsh that the same pair return annually to their chosen spot. The nest proper 

 is generally built of those materials which surround and conceal the site, and is 

 so constructed, with an opening on the side sufficient in size to admit the owner, 

 that it is almost impossible to see from al)ove the silting bird or her eggs without 

 first parting the vegetation. In several instances I have been obliged to lift the 

 incubating bird from her nest that I might obtain a view of her treasures. 



The eggs exhibit considerable diversity in size, shape and color. Typical 

 eggs resemble those of the domestic fowl in shape. The background of the egg 

 may be bluish white, creamy bufT or light brown. The markings consist of specks, 

 spots, blotches and scrawls of numerous shades of red. brown and lilac. In size 

 the eggs range from one and fifty-hundredths inches to one and ninety-hundredths 

 inches long by one and twelve-hundredths inches to one and twenty-eight- 

 humlrcdths inches wide. 



95\ 



