Todd : Birds of Erie and Presque Isle. 533 



Bass Ponds, from May 24 to 31. Although found in some numbers 

 in all the marshy spots about the bay, these two ponds seem to be the 

 v favorite resorts of the species during the fall movement, offering, as 

 they do, the best and most extensive tracts of suitable covert, the 

 growth of wild rice, on the seeds of which the birds feed, constituting 

 the main attraction. They were already present on August 20, 1900, 

 when our fall observations began, but as a rule the first great flight 

 does not take place until about September 1, varying only a day or 

 two either way, on which occasions, and at intervals thereafter, the 

 birds are excessively abundant, and very large bags are often made 

 by gunners. "I have seen the time," writes Mr. Bacon, "when 

 Niagara Pond seemed fairly alive with them, ' ' and our own experience 

 at this season was in full accord. After September 25 they are seen 

 only in small numbers, while October 25 (1893 and 1894) is as late 

 as they have ever been observed, and, indeed, in 1900 we saw none 

 after October 6. An adult male specimen in Mr. Sennett's series, 

 taken October 25, 1889, is evidently melanic. (See Auk, VII, 1890, 

 71.) This rail is said by Mr. Bacon to be an expert diver upon 

 necessity, as for instance when wounded and trying to escape. 



52. Porzana noveboracensis. Yellow Rail. 



The credit of adding this interesting species to the fauna of Erie 

 belongs to Mr. Bacon, whose notes are herewith transcribed in full : 

 ' ' A rather rare spring and fall migrant, not known to the local gunners, 

 although, like myself, they must meet with it occasionally. I observed 

 it on the Peninsula first on September 30, 1893. In the fall of 1894 I 

 met with it on three different occasions (October 15, 17, and 19) at the 

 mouth of Mill Creek. On September 18, 1895, 1 took a single specimen 

 in the snipe grounds west of the city, and on April 27, 1896, 1 took an- 

 other at the same place. . Again, on September 20, 1900, 1 shot one Yel- 

 low Rail at the mouth of Mill Creek, but in the fall of 190 1 1 saw and se- 

 cured more than in all previous seasons combined. Evidently a small 

 bunch, perhaps a family group, stopped in the snipe grounds (before 

 mentioned) west of the city, where I noticed them first on September 

 25, when I saw three and secured two. (Previously, however, on Sep- 

 tember 15, 1 had received an immature bird killed by a local gunner.) 

 From this time on I never failed to start one or two Yellow Rails by 

 hunting through this grassy spot (marsh grass, cat-tails, and wild 

 rice), but often they rose so close at hand and flew such a short dis- 



