160 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
(Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, II. 1898, 7); and there is a mounted specimen in 
the Barron collection at Niles, which was examined by the writer in Novem- 
ber, 1905. This specimen has no label, but undoubtedly was taken in the 
vicinity. 
There are two specimens in the Museum of Hope College, Holland, Ottawa 
Co., taken by Mr. Arthur G. Baumgartel in that immediate vicinity, April 
21 and 28,1896. Mr. Baumgartel also states, in a letter dated September 
13, 1907, that a third specimen was killed but was lost in the mud. Still 
another Yellow Rail was taken alive, but injured, on the university 
campus at Ann Arbor, Sept. 30, 1908, and was mounted for the museum 
by Norman A. Wood. One other record is that of a female caught by a 
dog, Mar. 25, 1908, just north of the city limits of Detroit, and now in the 
collection of P. A. Taverner (Auk, XXV, 1908,§327). 
Jerome Trombley, Petersburg, Mich., has a set of four eggs, which in 
size and coloration meet perfectly the requirements for this species, and 
which were taken May 29, 1894, in the township of Ida, Monroe county, 
Mich. Mr. Trombley did not take the eggs himself, but his collector 
described the bird which was flushed from the nest, and his description 
tallied well with that of the Yellow Rail. The situation was in a large 
cranberry marsh, and the nest was fastened to the tops of the long marsh- 
grass, the bottom resting on, or just reaching the water. It was composed 
entirely of marsh grass. Mr. Trombley says ‘“‘ From the size and appearance 
of both the bird and eggs the evidence is fairly conclusive, although it is 
not absolutely certain that the bird was a Yellow Rail.” 
This species has been taken somewhat frequently in Ontario, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien 
and Hollister, ‘This little Rail is not nearly so rare as generally supposed, 
though by no means common. We have authentic records for Racine, 
Milwaukee, Elm Grove, Delavan, Janesville, Milton, etc., and even breed- 
ing records as far north as Brown county (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 39). 
Butler says “Those who have met with the Yellow Rail agree that it is 
the dryer marshes, or wet prairies or meadows, that it prefers; the more 
decidedly marshy ground is frequented by the larger rails” (Birds of In- 
diana, 1897, 678). According to Ridgway, the “eggs are six or more, 
creamy-buff, densely sprinkled and speckled on the larger end with rusty 
brown. They average 1.12 by .83 inches.” - 
The species, though widely distributed over the United States, appears 
not to be common anywhere. It is even more difficult to find and to flush 
than the Virginia Rail, and specimens are rarely found without the aid 
of a good dog. Few people have studied the bird enough to recognize 
its note when heard, and so it is not likely to be detected except by syste- 
matic and prolonged search in favorable localities. Of course one may be 
found accidentally, but this is most likely to happen in the case of some 
sportsman who does not appreciate the importance of the find and makes 
no record of it. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult: Head, neck and breast brownish yellow, unmarked; ground color of upper 
parts the same, but heavily streaked with black and crossed with numerous narrow bars 
off white; flanks brownish black, barred with white; secondaries white; under tail-coverts 
light brown.y Sexes alike. Length 6 to 7.75 inches; wing 3 to 3.60; culmen .50 to .60; 
tarsus .95 to 1.00. 
