£be TOarbler 35 



of the birds, but to my great surprise one flushed almost immediately and 

 with a squib charge of dust shot" I killed it, which proved by dissection to be 

 the female. I then tried to flush the male, (knowing the one I had 

 was the female by the coloration) so as to be positive of the song of both 

 sexes. After hunting for more than forty minutes I failed to flush the mate, 

 so went home and skinned the one which I had secured. 



At 3:00 o'clock p. m. I went in search of the male, accompanied by a 

 friend, Lieut. J. D. Cozby, who brought with him his fine pointer dog. Al- 

 though we heard the notes of the bird incessantly, which never changed from 

 kik, kik, kik, kik, or kick, kuk, kuk, kuk. it was absolutely impossible to flush him 

 but once in two hours' careful search, when he flew into the oat stubble, but 

 ran like a phantom into the standing oats. It was nearly 7:00 o'clock p. m. 

 and I was fast losing hope cf obtaining the male, when I saw the dog point- 

 ing, but the bird ran between Lieut. Cozby and myself, then flushed as it 

 passed me. I quickly requested my friend to shoot and by a fortunate shot 

 he succeeded in killing it. When it is realized that it required four hours' 

 constant search in order to secure the male it can be understood how secre- 

 tive the Rail is in its environment. 



The eggs would all have hatched in four or five days, but with care and 

 patience I preserved them. It seems almost miraculous that none of the eggs 

 were injured, as the hoof-prints of seven feet were all around the nest and 

 one had actually lifted the nest from the ground, but despite the fact that a 

 huge mowing machine, drawn by three mules, had passed over the nest twice 

 and cut the stubble close above it, not an egg was broken. The complete 

 group, nest, eggs and birds, mounted by Hoyt, are now in the collection of 

 Mr. Childs. 



The three eggs of Little Black Rail shown on our plate are from the 

 set of eight described by Mr. Wayne. Our plate is an exact representation 

 of the set — accurate as regards size, color and markings — all being remark- 

 ably uniform. 



