26 XORMAN A. \\'(K)D 



they were of some economic importance, furnishing sport and food for 

 hunters. 



63. Rallus clcgans Audubon. King Rail. 



JuDD, 1917, p. 11; Bryant claims to have seen one at Freshwater Lake. 



There is a specimen without data in the Agricultural College Museum. 

 This was the only bird seen. 



64. Rallus virginiflnus Linnaeus. Virginia Rail. 



AlIvEN, i<S75, p. 67; met with once or twice in June, 1873. near the Heart River. 

 Bent, 1901, p. 330; Virginia rails nested m short grass about the edges of sloughs. 

 JuDD, 1917, p. 11; not common and noted only in fall migrations. FrEEman, 1919, p. 

 II ; has photographs of individuals found in Island Park at Fargo. 



The species was not seen in the field. There is a specimen in the Agri- 

 cultural College Collection taken at Grafton, June 3, 1910, by Henry 

 Williams. 



65. Porcaiia Carolina (Linnaeus). Sora. 



CouES, 1878, p. 647; observed during the migration in September along the Mouse 

 River. Bent, 1901, p. 330; nested in short grass about edges of sloughs. Judd, 1917, 

 p. 11; very common, nearly every slough containing water in June has a pair or 

 more nesting. Bailey, 1918, p. 67; common in the sloughs about Sweetwater Lake. 

 Freeman, jqio. p. it : very common.. May 14. 



The species is more often heard than seen. One was observed at Dry 

 Lake, Ramsey County, July 18, 1920, and one at Stump Lake, July 25, 1920. 



66. Coturnicops novcboraccnsis (Gmelin). Yellow Rail. 



Reed, 1904, p. 105 ; set of ten eggs collected June 4, 1901, in Benson County, by 

 Rev. P. B. Peabody. Abbott, 1916, No. 94, p. 4; "Resting against a boulder, reveling 

 in the prolonged sunset, a metallic 'click' penetrates the verdure directly in front. 

 The author has several imitators. The birds are ventriloquists and you can't disturb 

 nor dislodge them. Take two stones the size of black walnuts and bring them 

 together .squarely. This will convey to you a proper interpretation of the notes. 

 They issue from throats of the little yellow rail, the feathered mouse of the north- 

 ern swales." Abbott, 1919, p. 97 ; visited the yellow rail coulee in the Choctaw Basin, 

 Benson Countj^ North Dakota. 



The Rev. P. B. Peabody, of Blue Rapids, Kansas, in a letter of Novem- 

 ber 16, 1921, says yellow rails are found rather commonly, breeding in the 

 Sheyenne coulees of Benson County, North Dakota, in late May and early 

 June. Eight to fifteen eggs are usual ; never, so far as knowii, more. The 

 nests are usually found in fine grass where water is one to- four inches deep. 

 The bird is abundant locally, and rather surpasses, in numbers, both the other 

 rails, Rallus virghtianns and Porzana Carolina, occurring in the same area. 



6y. Fulica americana Gmelin. Coot. 



CouES, 1878. p. 647 ; extremely abundant from the Red River to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. HoEFMAN, 1882, p. 404; frequently noticed along the Missouri River between 

 Bismarck and Fort Berthold until September 20, 1881. Jubd. 1917. p. 12: lirceds in 

 numbers in all large sloughs and many of the smaller ones. They are very prolific 

 layers and replace stolen sets ; at least three thousand eggs were taken by Lidians 

 around Rock Lake in the early summer of 1895. 



