38 



gray and the under parts white, while in the common tern the 

 under parts are gray and the tail is white. In flight they are 

 commonly seen together. June is the breeding month of the 

 terns above mentioned. 



From my tent on Dickenson's Island, last May, I first heard 

 the note of the king rail, Rallus elegans, in that locality. All 

 night it could be heard in some four different places in the near 

 vicinity, and the note was scarcely ever silent through the day. 

 It proved to be breeding very commonly around all the sedgy 

 ponds, but was so exceedingly shy that only an occasional 

 glimpse of it could be had. Once in a great while would 

 this stately bird step out, for a few moments, into full view. The 

 nest is hid away in a perfect thicket of coarse dried marsh-grass, 

 still standing with its curled and drooping withered leaves of the 

 previous year. About a foot in diameter and about eight or ten 

 inches through, from the rim to the bottom, which rested on the 

 water, and about three or four inches deep inside, it was well 

 built of the dried leaves of the marsh-grass, the rim being well 

 laid. The whole was tied to the coarse standing culms of dried 

 grass, and was thickly and elegantly arched over with the dried 

 and drooping leaves. The bird adhered closely to the nest, 

 making it easy to identify the nine to eleven roundish-ovate 

 eggs, so finely tinged with a warm reddish brown, and sparsely 

 spotted with reddish brown and lilac. As a consequence of its 

 close adherence to the nest, it not infrequently becomes a prey 

 to the marsh hawk, which also breeds on these marshes. 



The dainty little nest of the Carolina rail, Porzana Carolina^ 

 so finely arched over and tied to the marsh-grass on or over the 

 water, is rather common on the Flats. The bird is exceedingly 

 wary, and can scarcely be seen about her nest, leaving you to 

 identify her six to twelve light brown eggs, heavily but sparsely 

 spotted with dark reddish brown and lilac. The young are jet- 

 black, with a little tuft of reddish down under the chin. 



The vocal performance of this species is a quaint, coaxing 

 strain of several syllables, which are at once striking and pleas- 

 ing. 



