74 THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1921 



this species in Chatham county during the past ten years, 

 and am therefore unable to give any notes on its life 

 history. 



Rallus eiegans — King Kail. 



This species breeds locally in the county but I have 

 never found its nest. T. D. Perry has in his collection a 

 set of ten eggs which was collected by a boy on April 20, 

 1911, in a small reedy pond along the right of way of the 

 Atlantic Coast Line railroad near its junction with the 

 Ogeechee road. I saw no King Rails in the pond on Ossa- 

 baw island during my visit there in May, 1915, although a 

 more favorable nesting environment would be difficult to 

 find. 



Fallus crepitans icai/ihei — Wayne's Clapper Rail. 



Throughout the day the harsh cackling notes of this 

 rail can be heard evei'ywhere in the extensive areas of salt 

 marsh along this coast. It breeds in large numbers, and, 

 as the range of this form and true crrpittins overlaps in 

 winter, it] is also found abundantly at that season. It is 

 a marsh prowler to such a degree that, except of course 

 while in flight during migration, it never leaves the boggj'^ 

 fastnesses, and, due to the diflSculty of observation, and 

 progress through its haunts, facts concerning its life history 

 are acquired only with the greatest difflcultA'. There is some 

 individual variation in degree of shyness, and also in nest- 

 ing habits. ]\[any birds that I have encountered during the 

 breeding season have exhibited a nmnner close to stupidity, 

 apparently becoming somewhat confused when discovered 

 upon the nest or even when suddenly come upon in the 

 marsh. In both cases, when the marshes are flooded, the 

 bird nearly always takes wing, rising awkwardly and ap- 

 parently with much effort, uttering two or three syllables 

 of its cackling note; but at low tide it never resorts to this 

 means of escape but always skulks away in the marsh 

 grass. I have only a few times observed it incubating — 

 in each instance, when the tide was out — and then se- 

 cured only fleeting glimpses; the bird dropping off the nest 

 and quickly gliding from view through the dense marsli. 



