The Yellow Rail 



three feet of a low-lying cushion, which held, in a compact and perfect 

 circle, eight fresh eggs. The cover of marsh grass was scanty, not over 

 eighteen inches high, and the water shallow — an inch or so; yet there was 

 no trace of a bird about. The eggs were 'different' — no doubt of that; 

 much smaller than those of a Sora, which we had, fortunately, just ex- 

 amined ; of a dark, old-ivory color, heavily sprinkled, almost capped at the 

 larger end, with rich reddish brown spots. The nest itself was non- 

 committal, a well-rounded and rather deep bowl of coiled grasses, three 

 and a half inches across by two in depth inside, built up to a height of 

 three inches clear of the water. Notably, there was present a leaning 

 and overshadowing wisp of dead grass. I considered the exhibit long 

 and carefully, too sobered, for once, to render snap-judgment. The boys 

 became impatient and pressed for an expression of opinion. Finally, I 

 said, 'Well, boys, to the best of my knowledge and belief, these are 

 eggs of the Yellow Rail {Coturnicops noveboracensis) , the first breeding 

 record for California, and the first set ever taken west of the Rocky 

 Mountains.' 



"We left the eggs undisturbed and tagged the spot with cotton tufts. 

 Returning ten minutes later, I found no bird. Returning again after half 

 an hour and stooping over the nest attentively, I saw that one of the eggs 

 had been moved, pried over on top of the others. Then the bird's nerves 

 gave way, and she flushed from a spot two feet beyond the nest and not 

 over five feet from my face. I watched her keenly, as with feeble, vacil- 

 lating flight she passed at a height of two or three feet above the sedge- 

 tops, and plumped down some seventy-five feet away. The bird was un- 

 mistakably smaller and otherwise different from the Sora, which we had 

 recently observed, also in flight. I got no impression of yellow; but since 

 the flight of the bird was quartering against the sun, that is not surprising. 



"Although we spent another day in the swamp, we saw no further 

 trace of Yellow Rails, unless a nest 'ready for eggs,' discovered by the 

 boys but unseen by me, belonged to this species. 



"Compared in the cabinet with a set, n/8, of Yellow Rail's eggs, 

 taken last year by Rev. P. B. Peabody, there can be no possible doubt of 

 the correct identification of these Long Valley specimens. I quite agree 

 with Mr. Peabody that they are absolutely unlike the eggs of any other 

 American species. The eggs were slightly incubated, and the albumen 

 so stiff that it was rather difficult of removal. The set, Rno — 8-22, 

 averages mm 28.8 x 20.4 in dimensions, and the ground-color is a trifle 

 darker than that of the North Dakota specimens." 



1548 



