THE OOLOGIST. 



153 



the little fellow out slowly; and this is 

 found to be true, as I have seen the 

 black animated fluffy bunches of down 

 pattering after the old man. The young 

 leave the nest about as soon as they are 

 hatched and run among the grass and 

 rushes. A large number of thom mTi<5t 

 become prey for their enemies in the 

 marsh, for, notwithstanding the large 

 sets of eggs laid by all of the members 

 of this family, none of them appear to 

 increase to any extent. 



The Ortolan or Sora Rail feeds large- 

 ly upon the small mollusks of the marsh, 

 and at times many of these minute 

 shells may be found in the crops of the 

 birds. Neuropterous insects, those be- 

 longing to the order in which the dragon 

 fly is embraced, form a good share of 

 their food. These insects are aquatic, 

 like the mosquito, in their earlier forms 

 of development. This Rail, like the 

 others, also feeds to a limited extent on 

 vegetable substances, and especially on 

 a particularly kind of seed in late sum- 

 mer, which I have been unable to iden- 

 tify. One authority, Cook, in his 

 "Birds of Michigan," gives reptiles as 

 the food of the Rails. This is undoubt- 

 edly incorrect, as I have yet to learn of 

 reliable instances where Rails feed on 

 reptiles, and my readers may readily 

 see that the make-up of these birds does 

 not admit of their tearing snakes, frogs 

 and turtles to pieces. The nearest that 

 these marsh birds come to feeding on 

 reptiles is when an occasional small 

 tadpole is gobbled up. A captive Rail 

 of this species, which I once owned, 

 fed greedily on hashed meat and earth- 

 worms. The bird came readily at my 

 approach and after three days in con- 

 finement exhibited no signs of fear, and 

 quickly learned to feed from my hand. 



This species may be readily told from 

 all the other birds in the family by its 

 yellow-bill, which is suflBcient to distin- 

 guish it. So far as I can learn the Car- 

 olina Rail is not considered a delicacy 

 in the great lake region, and it is rarely 



used on the table; but this may be the 

 result of prejudice, and from the fact 

 that enough Rails are rarely shot to 

 prepare for a meal . Most gunners shoot 

 Rails as curiosities and then throw 

 them away. However, along our East- 

 ern <jpqbord, this species, as well as the 

 King Rail, and also a coast species, the 

 Clapper or salt water marsh hen, is 

 shot in great numbers from New Jersey 

 to Georgia, and is considered as legit- 

 imate game, and as well, favorite del- 

 icacies with many. 



The name Ortolan is from the ancients 

 and as I understand it is applied to the 

 Starling and not to the Rail; but the 

 present day Ortolan of Europe is a bunt- 

 ing, while the Wheatear is often called 

 Ortolan in England. The Sora or Car- 

 olina Rail is never seen in the markets 

 of the West or at least to any extent; 

 but in the large city markets it is a 

 common thing to see this and one or 

 two other species. 



This Rail like others of the family, 

 departs for southern quarters in early 

 October, and generally after a good 

 series of frosts. The birds may be 

 taken at times, even in November, in 

 the great lake region, and sometimes 

 in December. 



M. GiBBS, Kalamazoo, Mich. 



The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. 



The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a very 

 common bird in Ionia county, Michi- 

 gan, exactly on latitude 43 o , although 

 Coues, Davie and Apgar give it as com- 

 mon only south of latitude 42 o . Is it 

 probable that the destruction of timber 

 compels them to spread farther north? 

 About here the wood lots have been 

 reduced to from three to ten acres each 

 and yet there are usually from one to 

 three pairs of Gnatcatchers in each lot. 



They arrive the latter part of April 

 and by May 10th have begun nest build- 

 ing, this date seldom varies more than 



