DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 27 



however, as she skulked about amid the rushes, incessantly 

 uttering her hen-like cackle. Ten days later, on July 1, the 

 nest contained ten eggs, which seems to prove that the Gallinule 

 lays her eggs daily. 



This nest was placed amid dense, tall cattails seven feet high, 

 over water one and one-half feet deep, securely attached and 

 woven to the stems of the rushes. It was composed of dry 

 rushes, woven tightly together, lined with fine dry marsh-grass 

 and dry dead heads of rushes. Like the first, it was well built, 

 compact and cupped, but slightly smaller. Outside width 

 twelve inches, inside eight inches; depth outside ten inches, 

 inside three inches. The bottom of this nest being seven inches 

 thick, protected the contents from the dampness and cold dur- 

 ing the bird's absence. This second nest was about ten feet 

 from the site of the first, and both were less than twenty-five 

 feet from the dump. 



The bird evidently departed hurriedly from her nestful of 

 eggs as she heard me approaching, for one egg reposed on top of 

 the others, probably lately laid. She cackled all around me in 

 the rushes, but I endeavored to flush her in vain. 



No Gallinules were observed or heard on July 12, 1904, when 

 I searched for them. I certainly did not intrude upon the 

 domain of any or I would have heard their noisy calls, for as 

 soon as a person approaches the vicinity of their nest, one of 

 the birds, probably the female, ever alert and on guard, begins 

 to cackle her alarm, and only ceases when the intruder leaves 

 the vicinity. 



In 1905 my experiences with the Gallinules were as follows: 

 On May 31, I collected a set of twelve eggs from a nest situ- 

 ated in the center of a large jjatch of tall cattails well out in the 

 marsh. It was placed half-foot up on some old last year's- dried 

 rushes, attached and woven to the growing stems, and over 

 water about two feet deep. This nest consisted entirely of last 

 year's dried cattail leaves woven loosely together, lined with the 

 same sort of material. It was large and well built. Maximum 

 outside diameter eighteen inches, inside ten inches; outside 

 depth seven inches, inside three inches. Five of these eggs 

 were about one-half incubated, and the rest three-quarters. I 



