July, r>12 NOTES ON WADING BIRDS Ol' BARR LAKB: RI'N'.ION, C(.)LORADO 
119 
g'racefully took wing and our last glimpse of him showed him flying true aud 
strong over half a mile away. Whatever induced that bird to permit us to pick 
him up and handle him in the w’ay we did will of course remain a mystery. 
The birds arrived in the latter part of April ( the 25th ) and eggs were laid 
the latter part of May. An unusually early nest contained three young and two 
eggs May 26, 1906. A nest containing two fresh eggs on May 24, 1907, contained 
freshly hatched young on June 22. The young develop much faster than young 
of the Night Herons, and upon the strength of rather scanty data I think they 
leave the nests within two w'eeks after hatching. 
Rallus virginianus. Virginia Rail. 
Porzana Carolina. SoR.\. 
Both species of rails nested in large numbers, the X’irginias apparently being 
somewhat commoner than the Soras. Both sjiecies freiiuented the lush, wet. 
iMg. 46 . NKST AND EGGS OF SORA SHOWING GRASSES BROKEN DOWN OVER 
NEST TO FORM A SORT OF CA.NOPY 
seepage land and the nests were almost without exception found in clumps of 
dense, long, round-stemmed marsh grass. The concealment of these nests wuis 
wonderful, fully equalling if not surpassing the best concealed nests of the Teal 
ducks. It was jiractically impossible to flush the birds directly from their nests. 
They would skulk through the grass for a dozen feet or more and then take flight. 
Even where we knew' the location of the nest and dashed up at full speed we 
were seldom able to make the bird take directly to the air. 
'fhe habit of the Soras of bending over the to])s of the grasses and rushes 
surrounding the nest to form a sort of canopy over it is 1 believe peculiar to this 
species, and well built nests of this type are among the most beautiful of the 
ground nests. 
