74 Bui lei in No. 2j. 



release would be preferable to captivity, and accordingly it was set at 

 liberty out of doors, the lamp still remaining in its original position. 

 The bird returned at once to the window, fluttered about as before, and 

 continued to do so until the light was removed, when it disappeared in 

 the darkness. The building in this instance, the temporary abode of my 

 neighbor, was an old unpainted affair — a shanty, in reality — situated in a 

 hollow, its outlines being scarcely discernible to the passer-by on any 

 dark night. These facts are considered worth mentioning as they doubt- 

 less have some bearing on the case. The date of the bird's arrival here 

 is also unusual, being about a fortnight ahead of the schedule time. 



The next incident is in relation to a pair of Robins that started to nest 

 on the same gentleman's premises, but in this instance a new building 

 lately constructed. For a nesting site they had chosen the cornice-roof 

 of a projecting-bay and had proceeded so far in their plans as to deposit, 

 one egg. At this period a number of house painters appeared upon the 

 scene, and in cleaning up about the premises, preparatory for work, 

 almost the first thing they did was to remove the Robins' nest from the 

 bay, giving the egg to one of the inmates of the house and throwing the 

 nest upon the ground. My neighbor coming home that evening found 

 the birds in great distress and, ascertaining the cause, insisted that the 

 nest be put back in its original place, egg and all, which was done. The 

 following day the female Robin had taken possession of her nest, the 

 sequel being that a brood of young was successfully hatched and reared. 



Before removing to Glen Ellyn, we occupied a house well within the 

 resident section of Chicago. In the spring of 1888 I was away from 

 home, but the following facts were afterwards given to me by several 

 members of our family. During early May of that year a King Rail, 

 Ralhis elega7is, was noticed to have taken up its residence in our back 

 yard, where it is said to have remained about a month, when some idle 

 boy with perhaps little else to do, succeeded in crippling it with a stone, 

 and the next morning it was picked up in the street in front of our house 

 more dead than alive. In all probability the bird had been injured in 

 the first place, but to what extent was not known, as it seemed to be in 

 good condition when feeding about the lot. My people tell me that the 

 Rail was on exceedingly pleasant terms with the several members of the 

 house-hold, including both the dog and cats, and that it would frequently 

 take a sun-bath in the company of the latter, something after the manner 

 of a domestic hen, stretching its wing out over the extended leg. For 

 food it seemed to subsist entirely on angle-worms which it caught during 



