ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 43 



the prairie in which they were reared, the remains of the nest in which 

 they were hatched being pointed out by a farmer living near. 



9. Tantalus loculator, Linn. Wood Ibis. — This species was very 

 abundant in the vicinity of Mound City, on the Ohio, and Cape Girar- 

 deau, on the Mississippi, the last of August, 1875. 



10. Nyctherodius violaceus, Reich. Yellow-crowned Night- 

 Heron. — ''In my 'Catalogue of the Birds ascertained to occur in Illinois' 

 (p. 386), the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is included as a ' summer vis- 

 itant to the extreme southern portion of the State,' and in my later ' Cata- 

 logue of the Birds of the Lower Wabash Valley ' it is given in the list of 

 'species found only in summer' (p. 26) as 'common?' More recently, 

 however, we have received information, in the shape of two fine adult spe- 

 cimens shot from their nests, accompanied by an account of their capture, 

 which confirms the breeding of the species in considerable numbers as far 

 up the river as Mt. Carmel. The locality where they were found is a 

 portion of bottom-land known as ' Coffee-fiat,' where a small colony was 

 found nesting by Mr. Samuel Turner and my brother, John L. Bidgway, 

 on the 6th of May, 1874. Two fine adult specimens in their breeding 

 plumage were obtained, as were also a few eggs. One nest is described as 

 situated in a white-oak tree about sixty feet from the ground, on a branch 

 four inches in diameter, twelve feet from the trunk of the tree, and upon 

 so small a limb that the eggs could not be obtained. The nest was com- 

 posed of sticks, the outer ones about half an inch in diameter, the in- 

 terior ones finer, and so loosely put together that the eggs could be plainly 

 seen through the nest. There were four eggs, and another ready to be 

 laid was taken from the parent bird. The number of nests found in this 

 locality is not stated in the letter, but another nest is mentioned which 

 was upon a tree about fifty feet distant." 



11. Porzana noveboracensiB, Cass. Yellow Bail. — Not very rare 

 in the northern portion of the State, and without doubt breeds. 



12. Porzana jamaicensis, Cass. Black Bail. — A regular summer 

 resident, and not very rare. During the spring of 1875 I saw three speci- 

 mens in the Calumet Marsh ; and Mr. Frank De Witt of Chicago, while 

 collecting with me near the Calumet Biver, June 19, 1875, was fortunate 

 enough to find a nest of this species containing ten freshly laid eggs. 

 The nest was situated in a deep cup-shaped depression, and in shape and 

 situation resembled that of the Meadow Lark, except that the Bail's nest 

 is much deeper in proportion to the diameter. The nest was more elab- 

 orately made than the nest of any other of the genus I have seen. The 

 outer portion is composed of grass-stems and blades, the inner portion 

 of soft blades of grass arranged in a circular manner and loosely inter- 

 woven. Owing to the small diameter of the nest there were two layers of 

 eggs. The eggs are clear white, thinly sprinkled with reddish-brown 

 dots, which become much more numerous about the large end. 



