i 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY 



have had in my possession an unmis- 

 takable egg of this species, found 

 in a marsh on Shelter Island. "A few 

 breed at Mount Sinai Harbor. It is 

 very abundant and breeds along the 

 south side, opposite Babylon, Merrich, 

 Freeport, Baldwins etc." (Helme.) 



Along the South Atlantic coast this 

 is an extremely abundant species, 

 breeding in uncounted thousands in all 

 the marshes bordering the coast The 

 nests are quite hard to discover how- 

 ever, being generall}' well concealed in 

 bunches of marsh grass or rushes, well 

 above highwater mark. The nest is 

 simply a platform of dead grasses and 

 rush stalks, with a slight depression in 

 the center, usually raised six or eight 

 inches above the ground. The eggs, 

 from six to twelve or more in number 

 are of a pale clay yellow ground, dot- 

 ted more or less thickly with red, 

 brown and lilac, and average If x 1^ 

 inches. The Clapper Rails afford ex- 

 cellent shooting on a high spring tide, 

 when they are driven in numbers to 

 the few bunches of grass protruding 

 from the water. They are then easily 

 approached, and can be killed with 

 small loads of " mustard seed " shot. 

 {97) 2/2. Ballus virginianus. 



Virginia Rail. (572.) 



Above olive brown, with stripes of blackish. 

 Line over eye whitish. Throat white. Breast 

 rufous. Lateral under parts blackish with 

 narrow white bars. Length 7-J inches. 



A regular summer resident, but no- 

 where very common. A few T pairs 

 breed on Shelter Island. " I saw one 

 along ' Carmans River, ' in June, 

 1882, where I think it sometimes 



breeds." [Helme.] Arrives about the 

 first week in May. Nests amongst 

 thick grass or rushes, near water. 

 The eggs, eight to twelve in number 

 are of a pale buffy ground, spotted 

 with reddish brown and lilac, average 

 size, about l^x 1 inch. 



These rails show the greatest anx- 

 iety when their nest is approached, 

 feigning lameness, darting about the 

 intruders feet, and almost allowing 

 themselves to be captured, in their eff- 

 orts to entice the intruder from the vi- 

 cinity of the nest. 



Colaptes. 



This beautiful genus is represented 

 in the western continent, by six spe- 

 cies, three of which belong to the Uni- 

 ted States, namely, Auratus No. 457, 

 Mexioanus No. 459, and Chroysoides 

 No. 458, according to Coues. The 

 principal seat of difference existing be- 

 tween the three, lies in the coloring of 

 some of the parts about the head and 

 under surface of the wings and tail. 

 The female of each species are like the 

 male, with the exception of the maler 

 stripe, which is wanting. The bill is 

 not truncated, that is chisel like, as is 

 usual to the woodpecker family, but 

 weaker and thrush like in appearance. 



The Colaptes all have the regular 

 extensible tongue of the Proidw fam- 

 ily ; not attaching itself in the fore- 

 head as in the other species, but pass- 

 ing into the right nostra! to end of the 

 bill, the total length, including the 

 two honey rods and horney tip, is 



Continued on page 6. 



