216 TROPICAL WILD LIFE IN BRITISH GUIANA 



the bird sometimes lays as many as six eggs. There was 

 great variation in size and shape, some being long, oval 

 and sharply pointed at the small end, while others were 

 much shorter and nearly round. The range of variation was 

 about 12 per cent. The ground color also varied from a 

 light pinkish cream to almost white, with the large end usu- 

 ally heavily marked with fine spots of chocolate brown and 

 lilac grey. The lighter eggs as a rule had fewer spots sparse- 

 ly scattered over the whole surface. Some few had no spots 

 at all and were hard to distinguish from the following spe- 

 cies. The average measurements were 34 x 26 mm. 



The nesting season was at its height in May, though 

 eggs were brought to us from February to July. It is prob- 

 able that some nests could be found during every month of 

 the year. 



CAYENNE CRAKE 



Creciscus viridis. (P. L. S. Miiller) 



The home of this exceedingly tame little rail differed 

 greatly from the one just described. It was round and 

 looked like a large baseball, from which the cover had been 

 torn to show the weaving of the threads, hanging among 

 the reeds or low bushes in overgrown clearings. The rather 

 large entrance was on the side beneath the domed roof, and 

 the walls were woven around the several thick stems that 

 supported the nest. The bird used much the same material 

 in construction as did P. albicollis grass blades, leaves and a 

 few weed stems, but the nest was a much stronger and more 

 skillful piece of engineering. It measured about 20 cm. in 

 diameter with a depth in the inner cup of about 6 cm. 



The Cayenne crake remained on the nest until the 

 searcher was within a few feet, and, if it thought it had not 

 been observed, would remain until the nest had been touched. 

 Then there was a quick flash of bright red legs and the bird 

 disappeared into the surrounding cover. While it remained 

 on the nest filling the opening, it so blended in color with 



