22 



THE OOLOGIST 



heavy blotches of dark browu, lilac, 

 purple, etc. 



The Virginia Rail is not a shy bii'd, 

 and I have often caught them on their 

 nests. I have sometimes found nests on 

 which the birds were sitting, and the 

 old bird refused to leave the nest, and I 

 was obliged to remove her. She would 

 Hy a few rods from me, drop down into 

 the grass, and turn and run up within 

 a few feet from me, and then disappear 

 again in the grass, uttering sharp cries 

 as she ran. She would keep repeating 

 these strange actions until I would leave 

 the nest. 



The Sora Rail breeds side by side 

 with the Virginia, choosing the same 

 low wet marshes or bog holes. 



The Sora builds its nest in very much 

 the same manner as does the Virginia 

 Rail. The Sora is unlike the Virginia 

 in actions, the latter being tame and 

 the former shy. 



The Sora lays from seven to seven- 

 teen eggs, and I have one set in my col- 

 lection that contains twenty-two. I 

 found and collected this set myself, and 

 know that no person placed any extra 

 eggs in the nest. 



Some people believe two birds oc- 

 cupy the same nest when large sets are 

 found but I think this is not true. I 

 also think the whole set was laid by 

 the same bird. 



It has always been a wonder to me 

 how such a small bird as the Sora could 

 lay sixteen or seventeen eggs in one 

 set. I have found many sets contain- 

 ing sixteen, and a few containing seven- 

 teen eggs. By examining thirty-five or 

 forty complete sets, I have found the 

 number commonly laid is thirteen. 



The Sora is very shy around its nest- 

 ing place. If anyone approaches its 

 nest the bird will quietly vacate it and 

 slip off into the grass. 



Although 1 have found hundreds of 

 nests of this bird which contained eggs, 

 I have seen but very few birds sitting 

 on their nests. The eggs of the Sora, 



like those of the Virginia Rail, vary 

 greatly in size, shape, and markings. 

 Out of two hundred eggs of this Rail in 

 our collection, twenty-tive selected 

 specimens average in measurement 1.23 

 by .87 inches. 



I have three eggs of the Sora that are 

 almost spotless, having one or two large 

 blotches about one-third of an inch 

 square on their surface, and also a few 

 small dots besides. They were all in 

 the same set, which contained twelve 

 eggs, but all but these three were des- 

 troyed by snakes or some other foe, as 

 the shells were in the nest. 



The ground color of the eggs of the 

 Soi'a varies from a very dark cream to 

 a light brown, the markings being of a 

 dark brown, purple, lavender or red- 

 dish color. 



Nearly all the Soras and also some 

 Virginia Rails, begin setting as soon as 

 they lay the first egg, and continue to 

 lay and incubate their eggs at the same 

 time. As the Sora lays a large number 

 of eggs it is almost impossible to find a 

 large set that does not contain some 

 badly incubated eggs, although the set 

 of twenty-two I found contained only 

 four or five eggs in which incubation 

 was far advanced. 



The young of the Virginia and Sora 

 Rails leave the nest as soon as hatched. 

 These little Rails are very pretty, being 

 covered with jet black down, and they 

 are also very lively. They are good 

 swimmers and it is a very hard matter 

 to catch them, as they will hide in the 

 grass, or swim off in the water. I have 

 captured many of these little Rails, and 

 taken them to my home. They will eat 

 worms, fl.ies, or any insect they can' 

 swallow, and seem perfectly contented 

 during captivity. I have never kept 

 them long, however, not more than two 

 days, when I would take them back 

 and leave them near the nest where the 

 old birds could find them. 



The heavy rains during the spring of 

 1894 flooded the swamps, and I found 



