NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 329 



with six fresh eggs of the black rail. I knew the eggs as soon as I saw them, as 

 I had just received a set from Henry W. Davis a few days before, a set of eight 

 taken in June, 1926, in New Jersey. 



Tlie nest was made of dead Bermuda grass placed on damp ground among a 

 thick growth of the same under a sparse growth of salicornia, or pickleweed, with 

 the green grass bent over to form an arch, with an entrance on the east side, 

 giving a view to more open growth, with a background of a heavy dense tangled 

 patch of salicornia growing to the river's edge, 100 yards away. The nest was 

 completely and entirely concealed and could be seen only by parting the grass. 

 The bird made no sound and was not seen again. 



Eggs. — The black rail lays usually from 6 to 10 eggs, but as many 

 as 13 have been found. They are ovate in shape and the shell is 

 smooth with little or no gloss. The ground color is buffy white or 

 pinkish white and they are spotted rather evenly with fine dots of 

 bright browns and pale drabs. The measurements of 92 eggs aver- 

 age 25.6 by 19.8 milhmeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 27.6 by 20.5, 23.5 by 18.5, and 25.5 by 18 millimeters. 



Plumages. — I have never seen a downy young black rail, but Mr. 

 McMullen tells me that it is black, like all other young rails, but 

 smaller of course. The young birds referred to below by Mr. Pen- 

 nock, taken on September 11, probably represent the Juvenal plum- 

 age. They resemble adults, but are grayer below and blacker above, 

 with less brown in the wings; the throat is grayish white; there is 

 very little brown on the back and hind neck; and the white spots 

 are duller and smaller. This plumage is worn but a short time, as 

 it is replaced during the late fall, November and December, by a 

 plumage which is practically adult. As to the molts and plumtiges 

 of the adults, very little can be learned from the limited mate- 

 rial available. Black rails are difficult to collect at any time, but 

 during the molting season the}' are more secretive than ever. 



Food. — Very little is known about the food of the black rail. It 

 probably consists largely of insects and other small bits of animal 

 life, with perhaps some seeds of aquatic plants. P. H. Gosse (1847) 

 says that the gizzard of one taken in Jamaica '' contained a few hard 

 seeds." One that Stanley Cobb (1906) had in captivity for a 

 few days showed himself to be insectivorous, "Peeping timidly 

 about the ferns, he saw a little insect on the underside of a leaf, and 

 quickly snatched it." He ate earthworms eagerly, but died on the 

 fourth day "after eating several hard bugs." 



Beliavior. — The black rail is not fond of flying and is seldom seen 

 inflight. Ludlow Griscom (1915), who had a good opportunity to 

 observe one, says that "the flight is much more feeble than that 

 of any other rail with which I am familiar; the bird seemed barely to 

 sustain its weight in the air, while its legs dangled down helplessly 

 behind." But when on the ground it runs swiftly and disappears 



