22 Ru IIMOM), I/ahifs of Porzaiia riiicrciccps. . '|^ 



on the EsconcUdo River in the vicinity of the ' I. P.' Company's 

 plantation, its supposed greater abundance at this place being 

 due, probably, to the fact that eight months' almost continuous 

 collecting was carried on at this place. It was one of the 

 characteristic birds here, but of course more frequently heard 

 than seen. To take a canoe trip up the river or creek without 

 seeing or hearing several would be a very unusual occurrence. 

 It is possessed of considerable curiosity, and to this failing on its 

 part I owe my series of over twenty specimens. Many more 

 might have been obtained had I known at the time of its rarity 

 in collections. Those collected were obtained more by chance 

 than by systematic search. My plan was, usually, to take them 

 on the return trip. Upon hearing a call from one of these birds, 

 the boat would be allowed to drift slowly down stream, and the 

 time employed in imitating the call, or in squeaking like a young 

 bird, when almost invariably the Rail would appear in plain sight 

 from its retreat in the fringe of grass close to the water's edge. 

 If shot at and missed, the bird would not repeat its call, but 

 ' chip ' similar to the birds of the breeding season. Although 

 their search for food usually led them through the thick grass, 

 they were occasionally noted in full view on bare mud banks, 

 within easy reach of shelter, however. One morning in the wet 

 season, during an unusually heavy shower, we heard the call of a 

 Porzana above the din produced by the rain falling on the corru- 

 gated iron roof of our dwelling, and from a window saw the little 

 fellow running unconcernedly about on the planks constituting our 

 wharf, occasionally hopping up on the gunwales of the dorys moored 

 there, either to satisfy his curiosity or look for something to eat. 



This bird rarely takes to flight, and but two or three times in 

 my experience with it did I see it on the wing. It does not 

 always attempt to escape capture by flight, even if hard pressed. 

 One of the Spanish laborers on the plantation brought in a per- 

 fectly sound and healthy adult alive, which he had caught in 

 the grass ; two days later he caught another, and also a Porzana 

 exilis 7>agaiis Ridgw., all of which were secured while endeavoring 

 to escape through the grass. The single specimen obtained by 

 Prof. Nutting at Los St'ibalos', on the San Juan River, was taken 



' Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., VI, 1883, p. 408. 



