210 



THE OOLOGIST 



gentle nature from experience because 

 nothing in print that I could find, gave 

 her away. 



I notice that in the current issue of 

 the Oologist, ye Editor was also forced 

 afield to learn of this bird. Well, at 

 last King Rail or perhaps I should 

 say "Mrs. King Rail" — is going to get 

 exposed. 



Another surprise was the location 

 of this, my first nest of the King Rail. 

 In a small 2 by 4 "pondette" — actually 

 15 feet by 40, by the side of the Wa- 

 bash Railroad tracks, our interesting 

 pair of Rails reared their 1909 struc- 

 ture. Building within 35 feet of the 

 path of the night Buffalo Express 

 with its blinding electric head-light 

 and the almost hourly heavy freights 

 with their diabolical deafening roars, 

 quite convince me that his Satanic 

 Majesty himself would fall in the at- 

 tempt at frightening this pair of timid 

 Rails. On May 17th, I noticed a Rail 

 walk out from a tile drain which 

 crosses the road-way. As this drain 

 connected with a small pond a short 

 distance away and as the date seemed 

 a little late for an intending mover, 

 followed the plan of the "Thinking 

 Machine" of the Sunday Magazine 

 fame. I put 2 and 2 together and it 

 made 4. 



June 1st I investigated and, al- 

 though I saw no birds, a thorough ex- 

 amination of all the clumps of swamp- 

 grass finally revealed what appeared 

 to be a complete but unoccupied nest. 

 It was well hidden in a thick bunch 

 of tall grass growing on a hummock 

 In three inches of water. 



Nine days later, on June 10th, I 

 was astonished to find the female cov- 

 ering 11 eggs. She must have done 

 some tall laying to deposit 11 eggs in 

 9 days. Undoubtedly 2 eggs must 

 have appeared in one day on more 

 than one occasion. I found upon blow- 

 ing the set, that all but two eggs were 

 pretty well advanced in incubation, 



proving to my satisfaction that the 

 setting must have begun upon laying 

 the first egg. 



Probably this is necessary for pro- 

 tection in such situations, exposed as 

 they are to Muskrats, Snakes and oth- 

 er enemies. 



The utter fearlessness exhibited by 

 the female turned my thoughts at 

 once to photographs and immediately 

 I hot-footed it to town for my trusty 

 5 by 7. Upon my re-appearance, the 

 female slid off the nest and ran out of 

 sight in the tall grasses. Recalling 

 the fact that this bird was "very shy" 

 my spirits fell and visions of pictures 

 faded away. 



However I could photo the nest and 

 eggs and after obtaining a good focus, 

 I attached a string, pulled the slide 

 and backed off up the rail-road bed 

 which was elevated above the pond 

 probably 15 feet. 



From where I was seated, the white 

 eggs could be seen gleaming through 

 the grass. After a half hour of patient 

 waiting, the white gleam disappeared 

 and I knew the Rail had returned to 

 the nest. I pulled the string — heard 

 the click of the shutter and felt re- 

 paid for my efforts. 



Slipping cautiously down the string, 

 I approached the camera. Mrs. Rail 

 did not move this time and I was al- 

 lowed to turn the plateholder and 

 snap her again before she emerged 

 with swelling feathers and scolding 

 notes for all the world like an angry 

 domestic Hen. 



As I reloaded the camera she would 

 approach behind me, sometimes with- 

 in two feet and turning quickly I 

 would find her in an attitude which 

 seemed at the point of attack. 



I found it necessary to retrace my 

 steps 15 or 20 feet before she could be 

 induced to return to her eggs. Repeat- 

 ing the performance time and again I 

 succeeded in getting six views. The 

 male joined in the scolding but would 



