'■24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



'wards found three more sets of five 



' eggs, one set of four, and one set of 



three eggs of the same bird, also one 



■ set of four eggs and one set of six eggs 

 ■of the Horned Grebe {Golymbus auri- 

 I tus, one set of ten eggs of the American 

 lEared Grebe {Colymbus nigricollis cali- 



.ifornicus. Mr. Raine also found a num- 

 ber of sets of the same birds. 



I brought the Grebe's eggs back to 



•camp and after an hours' woi'k blowing 



them, I set out to find a few sets of 



.American Bittern's [Botaurus lentigin- 



'Osus) I soon returned with a set of five 



• eggs. I flushed the bird off the nest at 

 I my feet, not 100 yards from our tent. 



After blowing this set I started out 

 . again and in live minutes I was back 



■ again with a set of six fresh eggs of the 

 same bird and soon after returned with 



: a set of four more eggs. 



The three nests were within a radius 



• of 100 yards, and there appeared to be 

 a colony of them nesting close together. 



The nests were all similar, simply a 



vfew pieces of flags and g-ass flattened 



into a platform and all placed in dry 



•situations. The bird is a very close sitter 



■ and will let you almost catch her before 

 leaving the nest. 



I started a Wilson's Phalarope {Pha- 

 laropus tricolor) out of the grass. The 

 bird feigned lameness and evidently 

 'had a nest close by. I searched care- 

 fully for it but I was unable to find the 

 eggs. This bird is almost as wary 

 .about the nest as the Killdeer. 



E. Arnold, 

 Battle Creek, Mich . 



Rails in Captivity. 



Upon entering the conservatory of 

 ^Lincoln Park at Cliicago one is con- 

 fronted by a pool of water the banks of 

 which are of a porous rock on which 

 run trailing plants. In the pool is a 

 -species of floating plant and on the 

 banks grow ferns and other vegetation. 

 iBack of this is a mound of rich mold, 



covered by a sparse growth of a moss 

 of the genus Selaginella of the Club- 

 moss family, on which grow banana 

 trees and various palms and other trop- 

 ical plants. There is a dirt walk around 

 and between this and another mound 

 bordered on the outside, against the 

 glass wall by a narrow strip of soil 

 thickly planted with the denizens of the 

 green -house. But for the glass roof 

 overhead one might imagine himself in 

 a tropical garden. 



Amid these surroundings dwell two 

 Virginia Rails and at least a half-dozen 

 Soras or Carolina Rails. It is intensely 

 interesting to observe these usually very 

 retiring birds which here have become 

 accustomed to man and will go on with 

 their various doings in full view and 

 often scarcely two yards away from the 

 vulgar gaze of the bird-crank vouch- 

 safing now and then a glance accom- 

 panied by a curious little nod and a 

 twinkle of the eye. Their main care 

 seems to be to till their little stomachs 

 and to keep up a respectable appear- 

 ance. A vain little fellow will stand 

 upon a slightly submerged rock jutting 

 out from the bank and dipping its head 

 and breast deep, send a spray of water 

 over its back all the while ruffling its 

 feathers and flapping its wings in ap- 

 parent ecstaoy. The bath ends with a 

 preening and adjusting of feathers. 

 They run about in search of food, they 

 swim in the pool, the feet moving rap- 

 idly are held close together as are the 

 toes;except,when the bird stops, the toes 

 spread and feet extended apart as if to 

 balance the owner; occasionally they 

 will make a short, straight flight. 



There is a well marked difference in 

 the manner of the two species. The 

 Sora is very active and seems constant- 

 ly on the move. It runs about over the 

 whole space that is available picking 

 up a morsel here and there varying the 

 diet with an occasional mouthful of 

 greens from the leaves of some plant. 

 Over the mound, amongst the smaller 



