126 
THE COXDOR 
Vol. XI 
a sort of boomerang flight, hover and return to within sixteen feet (actual measure- 
ment) of the starting point. The bird flew so slow it seemed to have difficulty in 
keeping in the air; this appeared to be a flight of observation. The bird turned its 
head and scrutinized me with one of its red eyes while flying off. The legs were 
hanging down until the turning point wasreacht. They were then drawn up to the 
body, and dropt as she settled out of sight in a tangled mass of weeds. 
The whitish eggs have a scarely perceptible tinge of pink. They are finely 
speckled with bright reddish-brown and obscure lilac dots. The average measure- 
ment of the eggs is ,95x.71 inches. The eggs exhibit great variations in size and 
shape but are rather uniformly markt. I believe the eggs of this species could 
not be mistaken for those of any other bird. The shells are of close-grained hard 
texture. They ..possess greater durability than any eggs of similar size that I know 
NEST AND SET OF SIX EGGS OF THE CAI.IFORNIA BEACK RAII,, EOCA'l'ED NEAR 
SAN DIEGO, APRIE 8, 1909 
of. One year’s exposure to the elements is not enough to destroy the shell. In 
1908, there were many eggs of the California Black Rail floated out of the nests by 
the high tides, probably bv those of March 30 and 31. I examined upwards of 
thirty ' floaters” during May of that year. They were then rotten and partially 
dried up. Fourteen “floaters” that were whole and perfectly dry were pickt up 
during the present season; most of them were bleacht entirely free of markings. 
A few that had lodged beneath the vegetation were still speckled. These dry eggs 
were at least ten months old; possibly the salt water acted as a preservative. Six- 
teen old nests were found in the immediate vicinity of “floaters.” On several 
occasions, eggs were found lodged in weeds at a higher elevation than the nest from 
which they had floated. About one third of the nests were built on or within two 
