Vol. XVIII 

 19-JI 



^ BrkWst^k, An OfHiiholofficitl Mystery. 3^7 



be more or less different from those of the birds which occur in 

 the United States. 



Reverting once more to the nest found at Falmouth, I do not 

 hesitate to assert that almost without question it was built by a 

 Rail of some kind. Its position, its component materials, the 

 general character of its construction, and above all, the cleverly 

 concealed run-way by which the birds approached and left it, all 

 point plainly to such an assumption. If this be granted the final 

 conclusion that the nest belonged to the Little Black Rail is 

 inevitable. The small size of the entrance hole and run-way 

 leaves, indeed, no room for doubt on this point. Moreover, the 

 nest, in every essential respect, was apparently closely similar to 

 the nest of the Little Black Rail which Mr. J. N. Clark found at Say- 

 brook, Connecticut, as well as to the one examined by Mr. E. W. 

 Nelson in Illinois. 



Of the Saybrook nest Mr. Clark says : — " This nest was situ- 

 ated about forty rods back from the shore of the river, on the 

 moist meadow, often overflowed by the spring tides. The partic- 

 ular spot had not been mowed for several years, and the new 

 grass, springing up through the old, dry, accumulated growths of 

 previous years, was thick, short, and not over eight or ten inches 

 in height .... The nest after the complement of eggs were depos- 

 ited in it resembled that of the common Meadow Lark, it consist- 

 ing of fine meadow grasses loosely put together, with a covering of 

 the standing grasses woven over it and a passage and entrance 

 at one side." (Clark, Auk, I, October, 1884, p. 394). 



Mr. Nelson's nest " was placed in a deep cup-shaped depres- 

 sion in a perfectly open situation on the border of a marshy spot, 

 and its only concealment was such as a few straggling carices 

 afforded. It is composed of soft grass blades loosely interwoven 

 in a circular manner. The nest, in shape and construction, looks 

 much like that of a meadow lark." (Nelson, Birds N. E. 111., 

 Bull. Essex Ins., VIII, p. 134). 



It is undeniable, however, that the evidence relating to the Fal- 

 mouth nest fails to establish any certain connection between its 

 original owner and the ' Kicker.' That the two were really one 

 and the same seems probable enough but the identity of the 

 ' Kicker ' cannot be regarded as definitely established until some- 



