THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



Publications Received, 



AGASSIZ Companion, III, No. 5, May, 1S88. 



AGASSIZ Record, I, Xos. 4-5, May-June. 18S8. 



BIRDS of Kansas, A Revised Edition of, by Col. X. S. Goss. 



HOOSIER Naturalist, III, No. 3, May, 1S8S. 



OOLOGISTS; Exchange, I, Nos. 5-6, May June. iSSS. 



ORNITHOLOGIST and Oologist, XIII, No. 5, May. 1888. 



STRUCTURE of Birds in Relation to Flight, with Special Reference to Recent 

 Alleged Discoveries in the Mechanism of the Wing. Paper read 

 by Professor J. A. Allen, before the Xew York Academy of Sciences* 



WEST American Scientist. IV, Nos. 3-4, March- April. iSSS. 



The Nesting of the Red -breasted Rail. 



BY B. F. TAYLOR, CoLl'MBtA, S. C. 



This bird was thought for a long time to be the same as the Clapper Rail, 

 and it was not known otherwise, until Audubon compared the two. The Fresh- 

 water Marsh Hen is never found in salt-water marshes, but inhabits fresh-water 

 marshes around inland lakes and ponds. It is very much prized bv hunters, ow - 

 ing to the delicate flavor of its flesh. 



The nest of this bird is placed among bushes, or in a tussock of grass, on some 

 patch of rising ground in a marsh, or near the shore of some lake or pond. It i- 

 generally placed on the ground and is about six inches thick. Tbe nests are 

 always constructed of coarse marsh-grass, and are very fiat on top. The female 

 lays nine or ten dunn-colored eggs, sparingly spotted with lilac and brown all 

 over the surface, but chiefly at the larger end. 



The food of this bird consists of snails, tad-poles, small fish, grass seed and 

 grain, the latter whenever they can get it. They habitat the same locality the year 

 round, selecting the same nesting site, and sometimes occupying their last years 

 nest, if they had not been distubed. Only one brood is raised during the season. 

 The young leave the nest as soon as they are hatched. 



