246 FEATHERED GAME 
son. From eight to twelve eggs are laid in a 
nest fashioned after the same classic architec- 
ture as the rail’s,—often, as in the gallinules, 
on the anchored floating stuff of the ponds. 
The period of incubation is about three weeks. 
The young birds are very active, taking to the 
water about as soon as they are hatched and are 
at once able to take care of themselves. At 
this time they are covered with a thick, black 
down, and present a striking likeness to the do- 
mestic chicken at the same stage of develop- 
ment. The bill, white and showing the spot on 
each mandible as in the adult, is even more con- 
spicuous than in the older birds. 
These birds as a rule have less success than 
the rails in raising their families, as they are 
oftener in the open water in plain view of the 
hawks and other persecutors in fur and feath- 
ers. 
The Mud-hen looks like an overgrown rail 
and has many of the rail’s peculiarities; also 
its dislike of flying, though not in so marked 
a degree. It has, too, the same labored, lum- 
bering flight, rising as heavily and flying as 
slowly. If forced to rise from the water it 
splashes and spatters along for some distance, 
