162 



NKST8 AND EQO8 OF 



the halluix much longer than its digit. The spread of feet thus acquired enables the 

 bird to run quite easily over floating vegetation in the marshes. Dr. James C. Mer- 

 rill met with the present species near Fort Brown, in Southwestern Texas, in the 

 early part of August,- 1876. The bird is common throughout the whole of Middle 

 America, Mexico and Central America to Panama, inhabiting the dense marshes of 

 these regions, nesting like the Rails. The eggs are of a rounded-oval shape, ground 

 color, bright drab or tawny olive, marked over the surface with a confused net- 



Farm Jumna, illustrating the American genus of ihe family farrida (From Brehm). 



work of black, or dark brown wavy stripes, blotches and lines. Average size. 1.22 

 x.94. Mr. Crandall has two sets of the eggs of this bird collected by Frank B. Arm- 

 strong in Tamaulipas county, Mexico, respectively on May 13 and July 18, 1895. The 

 nests in both cases were composed of water weeds and trash of any kind. They were 

 constructed so as to float among the lilly leaves growing on a pond, similar to a 

 grebe's nest. One set contains five eggs, and they measure as follows: 1.19x.89, 

 l.lGx.90, l.lSx.89, 1.21x.90, 1.23x.91. The second set of four eggs, taken in July, ex- 



