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Volume XVII January-February, 1915 Number 1 
WITH RALLUS IN THE TEXAS MARSH 
By GEORGE FINLAY SIMMONS 
WITH FOUR PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR 
N OTHING had been mine all spring but ill-luck I The season had been an 
unusually rainy one, even for the Gulf coastal region of southeastern 
Texas (which is by way of saying that there had been some rain). The 
prairies and prairie marshes were flooded, much to my sorrow, for I knew full 
well that no Louisiana Clapper Rail would be so indiscreet as to nest under such 
conditions. 
But I was especially anxious to locate a nest of the bird, in order to make 
a further study of its nesting habits and homei life ( Cf . Auk, July, 1914, pp. 
363-384), for but recently had I added the bird to my local list, and what I did 
not know about it would fill many volumes. It is said that the things people 
don’t know will never hurt them, but that subject had rested heavily on my 
mind for some time. 
For hours and hours, on numerous trips, I had tramped the flooded 
marshes, thinking evil thoughts of both the weather and the rails, and inwardly 
cursing my luck. I had searched every suitable clump of rushes and tussock 
of grass for miles around, but had found only one nest, April 21, 1914. To cap 
the climax of my seeming ill-luck, that nest was destroyed by still heavier rains 
before a single egg was laid ! 
Time and again, during May, I visited the localities frequented by Rallus, 
but found nothing until the 30th. The whole day was spent among the group 
of small ponds and marshes on the extensive coastal prairie south of Houston, 
and in the same marsh where the nest of April 21 was located I found a nest 
which the young had already deserted. It was among the tall weeds and 
rushes growing in water a foot deep, and contained one lone egg (1.62x3.18) 
