60 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 67 



Dimensions of 11 eastern Arkansas nests were: average height from 

 ground to canopy, 43.0 cm. ; average height from ground to rim, 16.5 

 cm.; average exterior diameter, 28.0 cm.; and inside depth, 1.5 cm. 

 (Meanley, 1953, p. 265). 



The height of the nest above water usually depends upon the depth 

 of the water. Eggs in most nests in Arkansas Grand Prairie ricefields 

 were less than a foot above the water level. In tidal marshes along the 

 lower Savannah River, S.C., the eggs in two nests were about 2 feet 

 above the low tide mark and about 1 foot above the high water mark. 

 Nests in dry locations, such as oatfields, canal banks, or dry ditches, 

 are usually elevated very little, and the eggs may rest within an inch 

 or two of, or actually on, the ground. Nests placed above 2 or 3 inches 

 of water may be elevated as much as a foot during a heavy rain or 

 when a dry ricefield is being flooded. 



After a heavy rain on the Arkansas Grand Prairie, an incubating 

 rail was observed working rapidly to build up its cattail nest above 

 the rising water in a roadside ditch. By reaching out with its bill all 

 around the nest and picking up materials (mostly cattail leaf frag- 

 ments), which it tucked beneath the eggs, and by using most of the 

 canopy for the same purpose, the bird managed to keep the eggs about 

 2 inches above the rising water. The ditch was nearly dry before the 

 rain, and the eggs were then 5 inches from the ground. At peak depth, 

 the water was 21 inches deep. On another occasion, a nest with eggs 

 2^ inches from the ground was located in a ricefield that had been 

 temporarily drained. The next day, the field was flooded to a depth of 

 5 inches, and the eggs were raised to 7 inches from the ground. As the 

 water continued to rise, the incubating bird persisted in elevating the 

 eggs by tucking rice leaves from the canopy under them. 



On one occasion I came upon a bird constructing a nest on a canal 

 bank, and watched the process only a minute or so before its mate 

 came to continue the work. The bird that was relieved left to feed in a 

 nearby ditch. I watched the newcomer for about 3 minutes, and then 

 collected it. Upon dissection it proved to be the male. 



Apparently the male takes the more active part in nest building. 

 Males on three occasions were observed gathering nest material within 

 20 feet of the nest site. A captive male purred like a domestic cat con- 

 stantly as it carried nesting material to the nest site. Tlie nest is shaped 

 as the bird (all observations were of males) sits in a clump of grass 

 or between clumps and semirotates its body. It later piles up dead vege- 

 tation, and shapes the cup. The canopy is formed by bending over 

 the tops of stalks of adjacent plants. One Arkansas nest was ob- 

 served under construction at 8 a.m. and 6 :30 p.m. of the same day, 

 another one at 12 :15 p.m. and 5 :15 p.m. 



The nest is not always completed before the first egg is laid. While 

 driving along a paved road 5 miles south of Stuttgart, Ark., at 5 :30 



