, nli l.\M>l!MI. 



than in flu- wat.-r its.-lf. The l-iids -atli.i man\ of them, and fasten them at the height ( 

 t\\i. i>i thn-e feet, and there flu- nest i- placed. It is composed of the most delicate rushes, 

 whether _ieen or ui iher.-d. mid is quite as Mil>Maiili:il as llial of the .-, million (iallinnle, tlatli*h, 

 having an inl-rnal diameter of i-i-lii or ten inches, while the nil in- Imtulth is about fif- 

 teen Tin' eggs, which are fn>ni tiv> i.. seven, rareh MHHV. are very similar to thorn of 

 tin- .(.IIIIII.MI (iallinule. lieing "fa Ikht i:ra\ i.h-yelltiw. sjiotted with blackish-brown. The 

 voting are at iii>t quit*- )>lai-k. ami with down. They are fully fledged l>\ tin- 



lii >t <>f .luiu-. when, as I have said, they ami their ]wi rents remove to the wet savannas in 

 i In- neighborhood. 



'I'll.- jerkin:: inotinns of tin- tail of this l>inl, win-never it is disturbed, or attn><-t4-<l by 

 any p-mai-kaMi- oi.j.i-t, are very quii-k. and HO often repeated aa to liuve a curious appearance. 

 It tun- uith great speed, and dives with equal address, often moving off under \\:ii.-r with 

 nofliiiii: Imt tin- liill alxjve. Tin- li^hfnos ami -a.v with which it walks on the floating plants 

 are iirprising, for in proceeding they scarcely produce any |..-tv,.|,til.|.- diMnrliance of the 

 wut<i. \\' lien swimming in full s-<-niiiy, thi-y mov.- litio\aiitly and gracefully, tlirowing the 

 hi-ail f"i \\ard at every pro]x'lliiiir motion of the ft--t. The flight of this s|MTi-s is h-sv -uilt 

 than that of the common (tallinnle. or of the KaiU. unless \\hi-n it is ti-.m-lling far, when it 

 tli.-s hitrh. and advances in a cliiv<-t coiiix- by continued Ilai>pitig8; but when it is in its Im-ed- 

 in^' or feeding grounds, its tlL'ln is slow and short, seldom exceeding thirty or forty yards, 

 and with the legs lian^in^ <loun. and it alights among the herbage with its wings spread 

 npuanK in the manner of the Hails. It often alights on the low branches of trees and bushes 

 i:rox\iiii: o\ ( -r th. iiid walks lightly and gracefully over them. 



''It is seldom that more than one Purple (iallinnle is shot at a time, unless in the begin- 

 ning of the love-season, \\li.-n the male and female are apt to swim or walk close together. 

 The male at this period is said to be able to inflate the frontal plate while strutting, but I have 

 never been fortunate enough to observe this. 



"The Purple (iallinnle not nnfrequently alights on ships at sea. While at the Island of 

 d.iU.ston, I was oir.-ri-d s,-M-i;ii live individuals, by the officers of the Boston frigate, which 

 they h:ul caught on board. My friend, John Bachman, once received three specimens that 

 had been caught three hundred miles from land, one of them having come through the cabin 

 u i iii low. He also obtained from the Hon. Mr. Poinset a fine specimen caught on board, on the 

 Santee Hiv.-r. in South Carolina, in May. It is easily kept alive, if fed with bread soaked in 

 milk ; and on this food I have known several that remained in good health for years. In 

 Louisiana, where it is called Rale Bleu, its flesh is not held in much estimation, but is used 

 by the negroes for making gombo. 



\l \ f ri'-nd Baeh man considers this species as rather scarce in South Carolina and Georgia, 

 but states that it breeds there, as he has occasionally observed pairs on the head- waters or pre- 

 serves of rice plantations during summer, but never met with any in winter. The extreme 

 limit of its range eastward is the neighborhood of Boston, where a few individuals have been 

 procured." 



Tin: FLORIDA GALLINCLE (Gollinula galfoia) is a more sober-colored bird, inhabiting 

 aixint the same regions as the preceding. 



TIIK COI:N( I:\KK (Crex praietuiti) is occasionally seen in America, and is therefore 

 enumerated in the list of North American birds. 



TIIK well-known CORNCRAKE, or LANDRAIL, is common in almost every part of Europe, 

 its rough, grating call being heard wherever the hay-grass is long enough to hide the utterer. 



The bird runs with \\onderful s|M--d through the tall grass, and its cry may be heard now 

 lose at hand, now in the distance, now right, and now left, without any other indication of 

 the bird's whereabouts ; for so deftly does it thread the grass-stems that not a shaken blade 

 indicates its presence, and it is so wan- that it ki-eps it-,. if u.-ll hidden among the thick 

 herbage. The cry of the Corncrake may be exactly imitated by drawing a quill or a piece of 



Vol. H.-74. 



