The OoLOGiST. 



VOL. XIX. NO. 11. ALBION, N. Y., NOVEMBER, 1902. Whole No. 194 



The Oologist. 



A Monthly Publication Devoted to 



OOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND 

 TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and items ot Interest to tlie 

 student of Birds, their Nests and Bggs, solicited 

 Irom all. 



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ENTERED AT THE P. O. , ALBION, N. Y. AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER. 



The Virginia Rail. 



To the frequenter of upland fields 

 and meadows, a visit to some swamp or 

 marsh is quite a treat, for birds of an 



entirely different mode of life are met 

 with, often in great abundance, and an 

 entirely new scene presents itself to 

 the expectant ornithologist. Then, al 

 so, there is only one season of the year 

 when such a locality is devoid of inter- 

 est, and that is in the dead of winter. 

 During the other three seasons, such a 

 place teems with bird life, and many 

 interesting phases present themselves. 



On the 8th of last May, while search- 

 ing for nests on a small neck in Cedar 

 Lake, I found the nest of a Virginia 

 Rail, (Ballus virginianus) which con- 

 tained nine eggs 



The nest was built upon a clump of 

 earth, and was entirely surrounded by 

 water and cat-tail rushes. 



The female was on the nest when dis- 

 covered, and was apparently as sur- 

 prised to see me as I was to see her. al- 

 though she probably had heard me 

 coming through the rushes, for I made 

 noise enough. She remained upon the 

 nest, however, until I approached near 

 enough to touch her with a stick which 

 1 carried, and then slipped quietly off 

 and disappeared among the rushes. 



The eggs were in various stages of in- 

 cubation, as setting begins as soon as 

 the first egg is deposited, and the first 

 ones laid are usually nest stained a 

 peculiar yellow from the decaying vege- 

 tation in the nest. 



Their ground color was cream, the 

 maikinos of brown, umbtr lavender 

 and purple, distributed over the sur- 

 face of the eggs, some of them having 

 the tendency to form a wreath around 

 the larger end. 



A set found in 1899 was very heavily 

 marked with chestnut and red-brown, 

 which so nearly covered the large ends 



