Nesting and Rearing of Land rails in Captivity. 31 



Moreover, he ne\er, so far as I know, broke out dur- 

 ing the nif^ht, or very early morning : his performances al- 

 ways taking place either about mid-day or during the after- 

 noon. Altogether he ])ro\ed to be in every respect a thor- 

 oughly well behaved and model bird, forming a most pleasing 

 contrast to his predecessor. I found the nest, which was quite 

 as cunningly concealed, and rather better constucted than the 

 former one, c^uite a neat cup in fact, formed of pampas grass, 

 though unlined as before, on June i6th. 



It contained seven eggs, the colour and markings of 

 which^ I take it are too well known to need any description 

 here, and the hen sat very close as before. 



1 at once covered the wire netting above the nest wiili 

 sheets of tarred felting to protect it in some measure from 

 possible thunderstorms, a practice I invariably pursue with 

 all nests I find out in the open flights. Incubation must 

 have already commenced, for the eggs all hatched out on June 

 23th, that is, save one which proved infertile. The very 

 same evening^ about 6 o'clock, a tremendously \io!ent 

 thunderstorm broke, accompanied by a torrential downpour of 

 rain, and my hopes were at zero ; the next morning, how- 

 ever, proved line anJ ^varm, and on visiting the aviary my 

 gloomy forebodings were dispelled, as much to my relief 1 

 caught a glimpse of, at any rate, three li\ely little black 

 specks ; little larger they seemed than bumble bees. Later 

 on I discovered four, but as I ne\er saw more than this num- 

 ber at a time, 1 concluded that two must have succumbed 

 during the storm, and it was not until September, when 1 caught 

 up all the Kails in order to ring and sex them that I found, 

 much to my surprise^ that six young Rails were alive and well. 



{To be eoncludcd) . 



The Endurance of Birds. 



Bv \\KSLi.\ 1 . J'Aci,. F.Z.S., Etc. 



{Continual I rum page 20). 



The list given in the hrst instalment will bear careful 

 consideration from the blandpoini of the various signs placed 



