Nov., 1906 | 
151 
The Southern California Clapper Rail Breeding on Fresh Water 
BY G. WILLETT 
S O far as I know the Southern California clapper rail {Ral/ us levipes) has been 
heretofore considered to inhabit only the salt marshes of the coast. I was 
therefore much surprised to flush a clapper rail from a small bunch of reeds 
on the edge of Nigger Slough, Cos Angeles County, on May 29, 1906. On ex- 
amining the bunch of reeds, which were growing in about 3 inches of water, I 
discovered a nest containing 3 fresh eggs undoubtedly of this species. 
I left them and did not return until the evening of June 14. Approaching the 
nest carefully I succeeded in getting within about 8 feet of it before the bird 
flushed. She floundered thru the grass for about 30 feet and then took wing fly- 
ing across the slough and was not again seen. 
The nest contained nine eggs of which eight were about two-thirds incubated 
while the other was fresh or infertile. The nest and eggs, which are now in my 
collection, are typical of the species. The nest is a very loose affair, the foundation 
being composed of decayed tides and reeds and the upper part, containing the cavity, 
of broken bits of tide stalks. It measures 11 by 7 inches on the outside, with the 
cavity 5 by inches. 
The eggs are creamy white spotted and blotched with umber and lavender, 
principally around the large end, the lavender markings having the appearance of 
being beneath the surface of the shell. The eggs measure: 1.57x1.15; 1.56x1.16; 
1.61x1.14; 1.58x1.12; 1.61x1.14; 1.60x1.12; 1.59x1.15; 1.58x1.13; and 1.61x1.14. 
Mr. O. W. Howard informs me that he has seen the clapper rail at Nigger 
Slough previously. I would like to know whether anyone else has found this 
species breeding on fresh water, or if this case may be regarded as exceptional. 
Los Angeles , Cal. 
Up the Yellowstone on a Pinto 
BY GERARD ALAN ABBOTT 
D URING my oological pursuits the shore-birds have always proved most fasci- 
nating. The prolonged, but extensive migrations, the deception displayed 
while nidification is in progress, and the unlimited variation of their ex- 
quisitely-marked eggs are notable characteristics. 
Having become intimately acquainted with the Wilson phalarope, Bartramian 
sandpiper, and American woodcock, I cherished a desire to meet the long-billed 
curlew, a king among waders, in his natural elements. 
Two other species, the magnificent ferruginous rough-leg and the sage-cock, 
prince of the grouse tribe, were of unusual interest to me. ''With visions of this 
nature I was lured to the foothills along the Yellowstone River, in Montana. 
On the morning of May 18, 1906, I left camp, astride a pinto pony, and headed 
for Valley Creek. Curlews were whistling over the grassy slopes and the western 
meadow and desert horned larks abounded everywhere. 
The season had been dry and the vegetation was short and stunted. I had 
no difficulty (from my elevated position on the pinto) in detecting nests of both 
larks, as the parent birds skulked from their treasures. 
