50 



species " fully as venomous as the rattlesnake, and much 

 more vicious " ; and whether that snake intended to attack us 

 or not, I confess that never without a feeling of dread did I 

 crush my way through another thicket of this marsh, in 

 utter ignorance of what I might step upon. 



Although I looked for nests of Scott's Rail on each trip 

 that we made to this and other marshes, as it was evident 

 they were laymg, it was not until March 31 that I found my 

 first and only nest. This was on a small, mangrove island 

 in the Anclote River near its mouth. Surrounding the 

 mangroves was a narrow belt of the same rushes that com- 

 posed the marsh, and the nest was situated on the ground in 

 the rushes about ten feet from shore, where they jutted into 

 the mangroves, one of which shaded the nest. The nest was 

 a mass about one foot in height composed of small pieces of 

 dead rushes carelessly piled together, Imed with fragments 

 of the same, and only slightly hollowed. There were seven 

 eggs in the nest and the same number on April 2, when I 

 collected them, so, although fresh, they were doubtless a full 

 set. On neither occasion did I see or hear the parent, but 

 there can be little doubt of the identification, as Scott's is 

 the only large Rail I found near Anclote. 



The eggs are similar to those of R. crepitans, cream-buff 

 to grayish cream color, spotted and blotched with vinaceous- 

 rufous, dark hazel, and pale grayish lavender. These mark- 

 ings are scattered over the entire shell, but are most 

 abundant at the larger end of the eggs. An average of the 

 measurements of these seven eggs is 1.71 inches in length 

 by 1.17 in breadth, with extremes of 1.72 by 1.18 and 1.69 

 by 1.19. 



Rallus crepitans waynei. Wayne's Clapper Rail. 



Although the eggs of this subspecies have been described 

 under the head of B. crepitans further notes on its breeding- 

 habits may be of value. 



