6 Brewster on Florida Galliuules. [January 



vvhicli, projecting upward and outward, formed a fringe of blunt 

 but bristling points that prevented the eggs from rolling, or being 

 crowded, out. On one side this fringe was wanting for a space 

 of two or three inches where a pathway about six inches in 

 length led from the iKV^o. of the nest down a gentle incline to the 

 water. This pathway was composed of broad flags from twenty 

 to tvventy-tl.ree incites long drawn out straight, with the slender 

 tips lirmlv woven into the nest and the heavy water-soaked butts 

 resting some distance away on the bottom. It was evident tliat 

 these flags had been carefully selected and adjusted to form a sort 

 of 'gang-plank' by means of which the bird might enter and 

 leave the nest without disarranging or breaking the brittle mate- 

 rial wldch formed its rim. The whole structure was saved from 

 danger of submersion in case of a sudden rise of water by the 

 buoyancy of its materials, but it derived its chief support from 

 the stems of the bushes, among which it was firmly wedged. It 

 certainly did not rest on the bottom, for I ran my hand under it 

 and found everywhere a clear space of several inches in depth. 



The measurements of the nest in situ were as follows : greatest 

 external diameter, 20 inches; least external diameter, 13 inches; 

 height of rim above the water, 4 inches; total licight al)out S 

 inches. The egg cavity was symmetrical but shallow (2'^ inches 

 in depth), and measured 7 inches across. 



The twelve eggs composing the set filled the nest to the rim, 

 but were arranged in a single tier — tbe ends pointing in ever}- 

 direction. They were perfectly clean, and there was no excre- 

 ment in or about the nest. Three were fresh ; a fourth contained 

 a small embryo, dead and partially decomposed ; the remaining 

 eight were within a few days of hatching. When we found the 

 nest the eggs were warm, but neither of the birds was seen 

 although both came close about us at times under cover of the 

 flags and bushes, uttering the frog-like kup and occasionally one 

 or another of theii" loutler cries ; on the whole they made very 

 little noise while we weie in the swamp, much less, in fact, than 

 on many occasions when there was nothing to distiub them. It 

 should be mentioned, however, that for a week or more before 

 the nest was found they had been getting more and more silent 

 daily, and showed themselves less and less often. After tlie nest 

 was taken — it was far too great a prize to be spared — there was 

 another period of clamor and activity during which they appeared 



