THE OOLOGIST. 



21 



eggs. Six of the eggs looked like Red- 

 head's eggs, the other five were undoubt- 

 edly eggs of the Canvas-back. I was 

 passing through a dry portion of the 

 marsh overgrown with long grass when 

 a Yelloiv Rail {Porzana noveboracensis) 

 ran along the ground close to my feet. 

 I was all excitement in a moment and 

 the bird soon disappeared from sight. 

 I did not make another step as I was 

 sure the nest was within a few feet. I 

 got down on my knees and after feeling 

 through the grass a little I discovered 

 the nest not two feet from where I 

 stopped. The same was arched over 

 and had I not flushed the parent at my 

 feet 1 would never have discovered it. 

 It was built of dry grass and contained 

 four eggs. The same were probably 

 an incomplete set, but I quickly gath- 

 ered them in, and upon blowing them 

 found all nice fresh eggs. They meas- 

 ure 1.08x.80, l.lOx.79. l.lOx.82 and 1.11 

 X.81. All are of a rich buflf brown and 

 are marked with spots and specks of 

 reddish brown and purple. I would 

 have like to have left the set until com- 

 plete, bui I was afraid some animal, 

 snake or bird might destroy the clutch, 

 or I might not be able to again find the 

 nest as the marsh was a large one, and 

 the nest was wall near the center of it. 



I have taken some 40 sets of Porzana 

 Carolina, Eallus virginianus and Ballus 

 elegaiis in Michigan and Indiana and 

 have seen several incomplete sets left 

 by me in the marsh come to grief and 

 so I satisfied myself with the four eggs. 

 I have met with the Yellow Rail in 

 Kalamazoo Co., ISIich., and have spent 

 many hours searching for its eggs with- 

 out success, however. The bird un- 

 doubtedly breeds in Michigan and In- 

 diana but has such skulking habits it 

 is almost impossible to locate its nest. 



I now started for home via dry land 

 and on the way took a set of two of the 

 American Rough-legged Hawk (Archi- 

 buteolagopus sancli-johannis). Nest was 

 placed in a poplar tree, was made of 



sticks, weeds, moss and feathers and 

 was very large. Eggs were fresh. Fe- 

 male left the eggs just as I reached the 

 tree. Her feathered shanks and gener- 

 al appearance were sufficient identity. 

 As I get yearly nests from these birds I 

 dislike to kill them unless I need a skin 

 for my cabinet. 



When I reached the house a little 

 girl brought me a small nest made of 

 fine hay and hair. It was found on a 

 bush and contained three small eggs 

 almost round measuring .51x.40, .50x.40 

 and .48x 43. Eggs are smaller than the 

 Bush-tit and are bluish-green striped 

 near the top with reddish brown. I 

 was very sorry indeed that the girl did 

 not leave the nest and let me get the 

 bird. I told the children not to take 

 any eggs but to mark the nest and show 

 it to me so I could get the parent if 

 necessary to identify the eggs. Unfor- 

 tunately the child did not do as she was 

 told. She told me the bird was a little 

 gray one. I went to the spot in hopes 

 of getting the parents but in this I was 

 unsuccessful. The eggs were fresh and 

 I have blown them and together with 

 the nest they form part of my collect- 

 ion; not identified more's the pity. 

 E. Arnold, 

 Battle Creek, Mich. 

 [to be continued.] 



Audubon's Oaracara. 

 Polyborua c.hertiway. 



As 1 have never seen anything writ- 

 ten regarding the Audubon's Caracara, 

 I will tell my experiences with this in- 

 teresting bird, hoping that they may be 

 of value to your readers. 



The bird is very partial to the mes- 

 quite region. The following fact will 

 prove it: This county is hilly and 

 broken and well covered with oak tim- 

 ber, and has an elevation of 1,600 feet. 

 Bexar county, which joins Kendall on 



