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ALECTORIDES. 



liikc \v;is nearly dried up. ho did not succeed in findiuf,' it, althout;]i told !)y hunters 

 who resort then; tiiat at sonic seasons it is quite al)undant. Mr. iJoardman inl'ornis 

 me that this Ifail occasioniiiiy occurs in the nci,nlii)(U'h(j(id of Calais, ami that oni' 

 specimen was received l)y iiim wliicii liad Ih'cu talvcn in the I>ay ol' Fnndy. He 

 rejjardd its appearance in tliat section ol' tlie country as being a rather uncommoii 

 occurrence. It is not known to breed tiu're, and its presence has oidy been noticed 

 in the fall. It is occasionally luiticed also in ^Massachusetts. A single specimen 

 Avas taken in Newton by Mr. Maynard. Sei)t. <S, 18li8, in a dry and ojien field; ami 

 I am infornu'd by Mr. I'urdie that another was procured in the marshes ol' Canton, 

 Mass., Oct. ir.. 1.S71.'. 



.Mr. (Jirauil was of o])inion, that although the i'ellow-brea.sted J{ail is selilom 

 met with on Long Island, it is far from being so rare in that locality as has been .sii]i- 

 posed. Its hal)it of skulking among the tall grass and reeds whicli overgrow certain 

 wet and seldom-fre([nented marslies, as well as its unwillingness to take wing, 

 explain its sup])oscd scarcity when actmdly jjresent in abundance. 



llichardson, although lie did not meet with it in the Arctii' Region himself, ami 

 could not learn any particulars in regard to its habits or the extent of its migrations, 

 (luotes from the manuscrijit notes of Ilutchins a notit.'c of it, written in 1777, men- 

 tioning it as an inhabitant of the nnirshes on the coast of Uud.son's liay, near the 

 efflux of the Iiiver Severn, from the nn(hlle of .May to the end of Septendier. It 

 never flies, he adds, altove sixty yards at a time, but runs with great rapidity among 

 the long grass near the .shores. In the morning and evening it utters a note wliirli 

 resembles the striking together of a Hint and steel. At other times it makes a shriek- 

 ing noise. He also adds — l)ut in this he is evidently misinfornuid — that it builds 

 no nest, dcjiositing sixteen /ifrfni/i/ icliltc rj/i/.s among the glass. Its eggs nvc known 

 not to be white, and in Illinois its nest resembles the ordinary loosely constructed 

 one of this family. 



Dr. CtHijier writes that he is indtdited to Mr. Mathew.son for authority to add tins 

 species to the fauna of the Pacific coast. The latter obtained several sjiecimens oi' it 

 at Martinez in autiimn, and afterward other oliscrvers met with it in the winter. 

 It seemed to lie not uncommon there, and to be a resident s])eci(?s. 



The Trince of Musignano iditaincd a specimen of this bird in the New "^'evk 

 market, in February. ISlJO. and regardeil it as an Arctic species. This opinion .Mr. 

 Audul)on was not iiadined to accejit, stating it to be a constant resident of Florida. 

 as well as of the lowt-r portion of Louisiana, where he has found it at all .seasons; 

 .and he regarded its presence in midwinter near New York as accidental. Jn tlic 

 neighborhood of New f)ileans it is said to l)e common in all the deserted savaniiiis 

 covered with tldck. lons'' grass, among pools of sjiallow water. There its sharp and 

 (iurious notes were he;ir<l many times in the course of the day. These; sounds conic 

 uiion the ear so as to induce the listener to iKdicve the bird to be nui(di nearer than 

 it really is. In Fhu'ida Audulion found this s])ecies even more abundant than it was 

 in Louisiana, and he met with it both on the niidnland and on several of the Keys — 

 where, as he .states, it begins to breed in .Marcdi. In the neighborhood of Xew < >i- 

 leans it is said to breed at the same ])eriod. T)v. P)ac,liman has found this bird mar 

 Charleston, >S. C. ; and ]\Ir. .\uduboii met with it near \'incennes, on the Wabash, in 

 summ(>r, where it had yoniv , 'iroods. At Silver Springs, in East Florida, the latter 

 had a good oiiportunity of observing the habits of this Kail, along the .'uargins of 

 lakes and swampy bayous. He noticed that it followed the nuxrgins of the muddy 

 shores Avith nu-asured ste])s, until, attracted by some object, it would suddenly 

 jerk its tail upward ;ind disappear for the moment. It was so unsuspicious, that at 



