2A. RicHMONn, Habits of Porzana cinereiccps. ■J^J^ 



nest contained no eggs, but had the appearance of a new one. 

 Two Rails were seen in the vicinity of this nest and I then 

 suspected they might be the proprietors. One of these birds 

 was flushed by a dog which had followed me from a neighboring 

 house, and flew a short distance just above the grass but soon 

 dropped out of sight again. On my return to the river the 

 first nest was again visited, but notwithstanding my cautious 

 approach, a rustling of the grass told of the bird's escape. Early 

 the following morning I approached the nest from the river side 

 in order to command a view of the entrance, and was this time 

 enabled to see the bird make its hasty exit and drop into the 

 grass. There were still only three eggs in the nest, but supposing 

 the bird to be as prolific as other members of its family in the 

 north I left them undisturbed, hoping to return for them later. 

 That afternoon we sailed up the river to the 'LP.' plantation, 

 where, in the course of several months a number of additional 

 nests were found. Here the birds were very common, especially 

 so along a large creek which followed a tortuous path through the 

 plantation and entered the river at this point. 



May 30 a nest was found containing five well incubated eggs. 

 It was a grassy afi^air shaped like that of a Marsh Wren, but 

 slightly larger, and lined with bits of broad-leaved grass. It was 

 inhabited by a colony of stinging ants and was not saved. This 

 nest was situated in a neglected, grass-grown part of the plantation, 

 where the bananas had been to a large extent choked out. I did 

 not see the bird leave the nest, but its ' chip " of disapproval was 

 heard from the grass close by, and the eggs had evidently just 

 been deserted. Thinking it might return to the nest I withdrew a 

 short distance and stood for fully twenty minutes or more, but 

 during this time the bird showed no disposition to revisit the nest. 

 The 'chip' was repeated at short intervals, and from the indication 

 of the sounds it appeared that the bird was moving about in 

 various directions. 



On July 18, after an all-day rain, I embraced the opportunity 

 to take a short tramp through the plantation, late in the afternoon. 

 On this occasion I found a nest of the Forzana close to a decay- 

 ing log. It was, as usual, about a foot from the ground, but in the 

 grass among the banana plants, differing in this last respect from 



