THE OOLOGIST. 



23 



■hundreds of incubated Rails eggs float- 

 ing on the water, as it rose so rapidly 

 the Rails could not get time to raise 

 their nests. 



As soon as the water begins to rise in 

 the swamps the Rails will commence to 

 raise their nests. They tear the grass 

 loose with their beak, that holds the 

 nest down and as the water raises it, 

 they will build under it, thereby keep- 

 ing it from floating off, and f(jrming a 

 solid foundation. 



Just when the 1894 flood was at its 

 highest I procured a boat and rowed 

 out into the deepest water in a large 

 marsh of several thousand acres, which 

 was all submerged but the tops of the 

 grass, and in many places this was cov- 

 ered with water also. 



I found a nest of the Virginia Rai/l on 

 the top of the water which was three 

 and one-half feet deep. Upon examin- 

 ation, I found the Rails were obliged to 

 raise their nest three feet to escape the 

 water. They must have worked very 

 hard to save their nest, for the water 

 raised very rapidly. I also found doz- 

 ens of other nests raised, but none so 

 high as this one. 



The Vii'ginia and Sora Rails feed on 

 worms, bugs, flies and all insects they 

 can find. I think they also eat the ten- 

 der roots and g:^isses. They do most 

 of their feeding early io thtt morning, 

 or after sun down at night. At these 

 times une may hear their strange cries, 

 as they wander through the grass. 



[n the later part of April, while out 

 duck and snipe hunting, early in the 

 morning or late in the afternoon, [have 

 seen dozens of Rails, many of them 

 coming within a few feet from me, in 

 search of food. 



Although I have never eaten any, 

 both the Virginia and Sora Rails are 

 said to be good eating, and many are 

 shot by hunters every spring. They 

 are very easily shot, for when they fly, 

 they will fly only a few rods and drop 

 into the grass again. They are swift 



runners and it is no easy matter to 

 catch one after it is wounded if the 

 wound is not a mortal one. 



The Rails have many foes, and many 

 nests are robbed of their eggs by weas- 

 els, snakes, blackbirds and Marsh 

 Hawks, although the later cannot dis- 

 cover them vei'y easily, for the Marsh 

 Hawk searches for its food while flying 

 and a majority of the Rails' nests are 

 covered over, making it hard to distin- 

 guish them when the Hawks are above. 



Both Virginia and Sora Rails depart 

 early, about the middle of August — just 

 as soon as the young birds get strong 

 enough to fly well. 



Dana C. Gillette, 

 Barre Center, N. Y. 



The First of June in Alberta. 



For some weeks my friend Dr. George 

 and I had been looking forward to a 

 nesting trip to six small lakes about 

 twelve miles southwe.'st of Innisfail. the 

 special object of his trip being to secure 

 eggs of the Canada Goose, that of mine 

 being those of the Sandhill [ ?— Ed.] 

 Crane, not of course limiting our take 

 to these; but the Doctor's professional 

 duties and a rush of work on the ranch 

 had kept us both at home, but at length 

 we were off, leaving "Linden Lodge," 

 Doctor's place, at 4:45 a. m.. Monday, 

 June 1, 189G. 



The weather was superb and after 

 about nine miles of a drive over hili, 

 valley, prairie and slough, we picked 

 up our guide for the day at a small 

 shack about three miles from the lakes, 

 said guide being a thirteen year old boy 

 who proved to have an astonishing 

 knowledg'^ of the location of our destin- 

 ation; for after the Doctor had secured 

 a set of Bluebirds eggs not far from the 

 aforesaid shack, the boy guided us, 

 through a very labyrinth of sloughs, 

 bluffs, hills and muskegs, to a lake 

 where he assured us a "Goose nest had 

 been robbed on an island last year." 



