1891
May 18
A hunt for Rails' eggs in Fresh Pond Swamps.
Mass.
Cambridge. - Morning cloudy with light rain for an
hour or two and hill E. wind. Wind S.W. in P.M.
the sun shining dimly through a dense smoky haze.
  N.A. Francis came out by appointment at 3 P.M.
and we went to the swamps together to search 
for Rails' eggs. I donned wading trousers but
Francis, despizing such impediments, wore merely a
suit of old clothes with low shoes and "went
in all over". We entered the big marsh just
north of Glacialis and had gone only a few 
yards where F. flushed a Swamp Sparrow from
her nest. It contained a beautiful set of 
five fresh eggs.
[margin]Swamp Sparrow's nest[/margin]
  The noise which we made plashing through the
mud and water quickly roused a Virginia Rail
in a thicket of willows & maples. It called piuk
at frequent intervals but we could not get a
sight at it. After a rather long search Francis
stumbled on the nest. It was built up among the
stems of a clump of canary grass mixed with flags
at a height of twelve inches above the water and
contained six fresh eggs which are by far the 
handsomest that I have ever seen being of an
unusually deep creamy tint with large blotches
(some of these as large as one's little finger nail)
of rich reddish brown. There was no bird on or 
very near the nest nor was she seen when we
returned and took the eggs two hours later
although she had visited it in the interim and
changed the arrangement of the eggs which,
moreover, were warm.
[margin]Nest of Virginia Rail[/margin]