264 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAI. MUSEUM 



out numerous enemies. My friend Bachman once killed a large moccasin snake, 

 on opening which he found an old bird of this species, that had evidentl}' been 

 swallowed but a short time before. Its feathers are frequently found lying on 

 the banks of rice-fields, ponds, and lagoons, in places where the tracks of the 

 mink plainly disclose the plunderer. The barred owl and the great horned owl also 

 occasionally succeed in capturing them in the dusk. " On one occasion," says my 

 friend Bachman, in a note addressed to me, "while placed on a stand for deer, I 

 saw a wild cat creeping through a marsh that was near to me, evidently follow- 

 ing by stealthy steps something that he was desirous of making his prey. Pres- 

 ently he made a sudden pounce into a bunch of grass, when I immediately heard 

 the piercing cries of the marsh hen, and shortly after came passing by me the 

 successful murderer with the bird in his mouth." 



Mr. Wayne (1910) vrrites: 



In the month of April, 1900, I was observing a nest of this species in a button- 

 wood bush, which was in a pond of water, and, about every other day, I waded 

 into the pond to sec liow many eggs were there. About the 8th of May, I judged 

 that the full complement of eggs would be completed, and upon visiting the nest 

 in the afternoon which was very cloudy, I saw what I supposed to be the bird 

 incubating. But upon close inspection I was very much surprised to find that 

 what I took for the bird was a huge moccasin { AncUtrodoyi piscivorus) , which I 

 promptly shot. This snake liad eaten all the eggs and perhaps caught the bird 

 as the feathers were scattered around the nest. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Eastern United States, Mexico, and southeastern Canada. 

 The Cuban bird has been separated as a new subspecies, Rallus eleganji 

 ramsdeni Rilo}". 



Breeding range. — North to southern Minnesota (Jackson, Faribault, 

 Waseca, and Minneapolis) ; southern Wisconsin (Madison, Janesville, 

 Jefferson County, and Racine) ; southern Ontario (St. Clair Flats and 

 Listowel); northern Ohio (Port Clinton, Middle Bass Island, and 

 Cleveland); New York (Buffalo, Branchport, Ithaca, and near New 

 York City); and Connecticut (Saybrook). East to Connecticut 

 (Saybrook); New Jersey (Avalon, Summit, Newark, and Repaupo); 

 Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) ; Maryland (Tolchester); Virginia 

 (Wallops Island); North Carolina (Raleigh and Lake Ellis); South 

 Carolina (Waverly Mills, Mount Pleasant, and Frogmore) ; Georgia 

 (Savannah and Blackbeard Island) ; and Florida (Gainesville, Titus- 

 ville, and Fort Myers). South to F'lorida (Titusville, Fort Myers, 

 Tarpon Springs, Tallahassee, and Wliitfield) ; Alabama (Barachias, 

 Autaugaville, Greensboro, and Mobi](>) ; Mississippi (Vicksburg) ; 

 Louisiana (Calcasieu) ; and (rarely) Texas (Corpus Christi). West 

 to (rarely) Texas (Corpus Christi); Oklahoma (Wister); northwest- 

 ern Arkansas (Eureka Springs); eastern Kansas (Wichita, Stafford 

 County, and Manhattan) ; eastern Nebraska (Falls City, Lincoln, and 

 Omaha) ; western Iowa (Wall Lake and probably Sioux City) ; and 

 southwestern Minnesota (Heron Lake). 



