re 



THE OOLOGIST. 



I have not seen mentioned, is] its fond- 

 ness for building in the immediate vicin- 

 ity of the numerous colonies of Quisca- 

 ius major, two or more nests of the Bit- 

 tern being invariably found mingled 

 with the more numerous habitations of 

 the Grackles. The Least Bittern shows 

 no parental feelings whatsoever when 

 their nest is disturbed. The female 

 usually slipping away at the approach 

 of danger. In connection with this 

 want of courage, I will cite an incident, 

 a little tragedy of the marsh, which 

 came under my notice last spring. 

 While collecting, I observed a female 

 Bittern sitting on a bent reed, a sharper 

 glance disclosing a nest a few feet away, 

 tilled with a writhing, yellow mass. 

 This, still on closer inspection, proved 

 to be two young Bitterns, perhaps five 

 days old. In addition the nest contain. 

 ed an egg. and another young bird, ap- 

 parently of the same family, was perch- 

 ed on a reed a few feet away. The birds 

 in the nest, though alive, were literally 

 eaten to pieces by lai'ge red marsh ants, 

 and were twisting and turning in every 

 direction to rid themselved of their tor- 

 mentors. I dropped both birds in the 

 water to end their suffering, for the 

 flesh on their wings and legs was com- 

 pletely eaten away. 



The bird lays from three to ffve eggs, 

 four being the average here, pale blue 

 in color, in shape elliptical. The aver- 

 age size of fifteen eggs in my possession 

 is about 1.25 x .95. 



The next bird mentioned is the Purple 

 Gallinule (lonornis viartinica), common- 

 ly called the Blue Rale, (fi-om the French 

 settlers name of "Rale Blue" or "Blue 

 Rail). It is nowhere to be found in 

 great numbers, but it is fairly common 

 along the edges of the less frequented 

 bayous. The male bird is tropical in 

 the brilliancy of his coloring, of purple, 

 blue and green, with red frontal plate 

 and yellow legs and beak, it is certainly 

 the handsomest plumaged bird we 

 have. It is more often heard than seen. 



as it keeps up a succession of musical 

 toots and clucks, sometimes loud, some- 

 times low and subdued, varied occas- 

 ionally with a cackle, something like 

 that of the King Rail, but not as harsh 

 or as shrill. The Purple Gallinule is a 

 good swimmer, and while swimming it 

 moves the head back and forth in a 

 pronounced manner at each stroke of 

 the legs. 



The Gallinules begin to nest early in 

 May, and full sets of fresh eggs may be 

 found by the fifteenth, although I have 

 taken sets cf six during the first week 

 of the month. The nest is invariably 

 built in a clump of the long, ribbon-like 

 sawgrass, the tops being bent down and 

 weaved together to form a rather inse- 

 cure platform, which occasionally is 

 lined with a few strips of dead rushes, 

 but often the eggs lie on the green grass 

 of which the nest is composed. The 

 birds build a great many sham nests 

 before settling definitely on a location, 

 and many times is the collector deceiv- 

 ed by these numerous blinds, of which 

 four or five are found for every real 

 one. The nests are either over or close 

 to the water, from nine inches to three 

 feet up, though the shams are four or 

 five feet in the air. From five to nine 

 eggs are usually laid, although six or 

 seven is the average. The eggs are 

 very handsome, having a ground of 

 creamy buff with a pinkish tinge, and 

 spots of several shades of brown, inter- 

 spersed with purplish shell markings. 

 The sizes vary greatly, from 1.65 x 1.10 

 to 1.80 X 1.20. The smaller eggs are 

 usually much more elliptical than the 

 larger sizes. Among a good many sets 

 collected last spring, is a set of four, 

 three of normal size, the fourth about 

 the size of a robin's egg. This runt egg 

 is very heavily marked, more so than 

 any other I have collected. It is per- 

 fectly ovate, and the shell is lumpy and 

 rough, and more or less porous. It is 

 the only one of its kind I have ever 

 seen, though it may be common 

 enough. 



