Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 37 



the young, and the mink is ever on the alert; while spring 

 tides often wash away the nest and eggs. Yet with all these vicis- 

 situdes there is absolutely no diminution of their numbers. 

 From the last of February until November the notes of this bird 

 can be daily heard, and I have often heard it shriek when the 

 Marsh Hawk {Circus hudsonius) was attacking it. These birds 

 are generally very quiet at high water, but as soon as the tide 

 begins to recede, their notes can be heard all through the marshes. 



The breeding season commences in March and by the last of 

 the month a few eggs are laid. An exceptionally early breeding 

 date is April 10, 1903, when a nest was found which contained 

 eleven heavily incubated eggs. The nest, which is made of 

 rushes or sedge, is placed in high marsh or in reeds on the 

 shore. The number of eggs laid ranges from nine to fifteen. 

 They are creamy white or deep buff, spotted with rufous brown 

 and lilac, and measure 1.70x1-15. 



This subspecies is a permanent resident and, together with 

 the Clapper Rail, is locally known as "Marsh Hen." 



82. Rallus virginianus Linn. Virginia Rail. 



The Virginia Rail is a miniature of the Freshwater Marsh Hen 

 {R. elegans), and is an abundant winter visitant on abandoned 

 rice plantations where there is cover of reeds and briars. It ar- 

 rives early in the autumn, September 21 being my earliest re- 

 cord. At this season the birds occasionally frequent fields where 

 pea vines are growing and about ready to be harvested, and ap- 

 pear not to be dependent on water when in such situations. 



Although this rail is said to breed at Charleston,^ this state- 

 ment is certainly an error, as I have yet to see a specimen taken 

 later than April 5, anywhere within one hundred miles of Char- 

 leston and I believe that the bird does not breed in any portion 

 of South Carolina. 



In specimens of this species that I have taken in the autumn 

 and winter months, the anal region and crissum is almost invari- 

 ably marked with chestnut or even bright red. 



83. Porzana Carolina (Linn.). Sora. Carolina Rail. 

 Although the Sora is said to winter in South Carolina,^ I have 



yet to see one after November 10.^ It arrives, however, very 



I Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water Birds, I, 365. 

 -Chapman, Birds of Eastern North America, 143. 



'Two specimens were taken at Otranto, February 3, 1909, and recorded in the Bulletin 

 of the Charleston Museum, V, 1909, 18. — Ed. 



