ip§E 



GSIlIlEGTOM' MQRTOliY. 



Devoted to Oology, Ornithology and Entomology. 



Vol. I. 



NEWBURGH, N. Y., NOVEMBER, 1893. 



No. 4. 



The Virginia Rail, 



IN HUDSON CO., N. Y. 



This bird is a common summer resi- 

 dent throughout the country, frequent- 

 ing the marshes and wet meadows, 

 that predominate hereabouts, where 

 it is the most common specie of rail, 

 breeding in the seclusion of the tall, 

 rank grass, where we may also find 

 the Sora, as well as the Florida Galli- 

 nule and Coot. 



Fresh eggs may be taken from the 

 latter end of May to the 30th of June, 

 but I think that the most birds are 

 incubating by the first of June, the 

 belated ones being those that were 

 robbed of their first clutch, when they 

 will lay a second set. Incubation pro- 

 ceeds from the time the first egg is 

 laid, so that highly incubated and 

 fresh eggs may be found in the same 

 nest. Both birds assist in incubation, 

 as a trap was set in one of the " runs " 

 or tracks made by the birds coming to 

 and from the nest, resulting in the 

 capture of the male, from which I 

 make my conclusions as expressed in 

 the foregoing. 



The earliest nesting date that I 

 have is May 25th, 1893, when a set of 

 six eggs was taken together with the 

 male bird as stated. 



These eggs were incubated for 

 about three days. The latest record 



is June 30th, which were undoubtedly 

 second sets. The eggs are from six to 

 twelve in number, being placed in a 

 compact, slightly hollowed nest, which 

 is situated on the ground in a tuft of 

 grass or other herbage, composed of 

 rushes and grasses. The nest is rath- 

 er difficult to find as it is almost im- 

 possible to flush the birds, as they 

 prefer to run and skulk among the 

 reeds and rushes for which Nature 

 has eminently fitted them for ; with 

 their thin compressed bodies, strong 

 legs and feet. 



In ground color the eggs are white, 

 creamy or buffy, spotted with rusty or 

 vinaceous brown and purplish gray, 

 exhibiting a good deal of variation, 

 both in ground color and markings in 

 a large series before me. One set in 

 particular is marked on a creamy 

 background with peneilings or fine 

 pen lines of rusty brown, encircling 

 the larger end forming confiacent 

 rings. The markings remind one of 

 the eggs of the Black birds (agelaius), 

 although the lines are not so coarse. 



A set of 9 eggs taken June 3, 1893, 

 presents markings of a different pat- 

 tern. These eggs are of a rich buff 

 color spotted and blotched with vina- 

 ceous brown, very handsome ; some 

 of the blotches being a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter. 



