THE COLCGLST. 



161 



whk-li are sc-uvcly darker than llic 

 ground color of t lie egg. Es|j('cially is 

 this so of t'gg No. 4, uj)oii wlucli, when 

 held at a distaiU'C of foiu- feet from the 

 eye, no markings c-an at all l)e tlisfcrncd, 

 it appearing as a plain, unmarked green 

 egg. On ail the eggs of this set tlie 

 spots arc vciy minute, as much So as 

 those of the eggs of tlic Brown Thrash- 

 er. The conrtuent ring is noticed in 

 uU the eggs of this set. 



There also occurs in the eggs of HaMa 

 huloviciaiia a sliglit variation in form, 

 some being more pointe<l or more 

 rounded at the snuiU end than others. 



The ntxU <if the Rose-breast have 

 always ajipeared t() me to be very 

 uniform hotli in loc:ition and construc- 

 tion. N. F. P. 



The King Rail in Minnesota, and Other 

 Notes- 



Since -writing my sliort article on ihe 

 ■'Family Kallidae in Minnesota" in a 

 former number of the OoLociisT, I have 

 added another species to the list. 



On June 14th, of thi.s year I got a day 

 off and went out to see how the birds 

 were getting al(jng. Arriving at the 

 meadow I started in and had scarcely 

 taken ten steps when a Blue-winged 

 Teal Hushed froiii under my feet. The 

 nest was nicely lined with down and 

 contained nine eggs. I did not take 

 these as the law is very strict i)rohil)it- 

 ing the taking of Duck eggs. 



Further on I found several sets of 

 Sora and Virginia Rails but left them 

 as I had no use for anj*. Noticing a 

 large bunch of swamp hay, and as it 

 looked somewhat suspicous, I stooped 

 dowu to separate it, just as a King Rail 

 flew out. I recognized it immediately 

 and was in such a hurry to get it that 

 1 shot before it Avas more than eight or 

 ten j-ards off. Wlien I picked it up it 

 was so badlj' mangletl, that 1 was un- 

 able to preserve more than the breast, 

 head anil neck. Going back to the 

 nest, I found a fine .set of ten. 



Tliey greatly resemljlcd the eggs of 

 tlie Vii-ginia, l)Ut were about twice as 

 hirge. The nest was comi)f>sed of 

 1 grasses and liay ])iled up to a hcighth of 

 I ten iuclu's. It was slightly hollowed, 

 and as a whole, looked about like the 

 nests of the Virginia. This nest and 

 eggs are, I beleive, the first recorded 

 set taken in Minnesota. The l)irds are 

 quite rare; but five being taken in the 

 last twenty j'ears. 



Continuing on around the lake, we 

 found two sets of Mallards' and one of 

 Teal's, which we did not take. Everj' 

 l)it of floating Aveed contained a set of 

 lilack Tern; eggs were all around us 

 l)Ut we Avere looking for a set of the 

 Wilson's Phalarope, numbers of Avhich 

 Avere Hying over our heads. I collected 

 several males and females, the plumage 

 of the males shoAving that thej' had be- 

 gun to inculiate. Suddenly, Hushing 

 one in the long grass, 1 lan up and 

 found the nest. It was .situated on a 

 small hummock, about four inches 

 above the leAel of the Avater. The top 

 of this hummock had been slightly hol- 

 lowed and lined with grasses. The 

 eggs, four in number, were a great 

 deal .smaller than I had expected they 

 would be. They someAvhat resembled 

 those of the Spotted Sand Piper, but 

 were considerably smaller. Having 

 had n(j time to measure them I am un- 

 able to give the exact .size. 



As it Avas getting time for me to 

 return I looketl around hurriedly and 

 found another .set of four. The loca- 

 tion of these Avere the same as the first 

 set. There Avere at least fifteen pairs 

 of birds breeding here and 1 am confi- 

 dent that if I had had enough time I 

 could have gotten a nice series. 



On the Avay out Ave found a set of six 

 Bol)olink's, five Grass Finch's and five 

 Chipping SparroAv's all Avithin a space 

 of six feet. Not taking an}- of them Ave 

 Avondei'ed at the harmonious relations 

 sustained bj* them, and providing that 

 they all hatch out in due time; they Avill 



