A Late Spring Record for the Yellow Rail ( Porzana noveboracensis) 
in Massachusetts, with Remarks on the ‘Ornithological Mystery.’ 
On May 26, 1906, Mr. John J. Haley had the good fortune to secure a 
female Yellow Rail, which was found and retrieved alive by his dog while 
working over a fresh water meadow in Dedham. The bird was given to 
Mr. G. E. Browne, an experienced taxidermist, and he tells me that he 
found an egg started in the oviduct of the bird which he believed would 
have been laid in three or four days. 
This instance, though not a positive breeding record, is of additional 
interest inasmuch as it may throw some light on the ‘Ornithological 
Mystery ’ or ‘Kicker’ (Brewster, Auk, XVIII, Oct., 1901, pages 321 to 328). 
I had always supposed that the identity of the ‘Kicker’ was disclosed by 
Mr. J. H. Ames, Auk, XIX, Jan. 1902, page 94, where he describes the 
notes of a Yellow Rail, which he had in captivity, as identical with those 
of the ‘Kicker’ which Mr. Brewster had heard in Massachusetts, but Dr. 
Charles W. Townsend, in his ‘Birds of Essex County,’ published in 1905, 
refers to the ‘Ornithological Mystery’ as the Little Black Rail, after talking 
with Mr. Brewster about a bird that he heard in July, 1903. 
To anyone not familiar with the ‘Kicker’ and acquainted only with the 
material published on the subject, this non-acceptance of Mr. Ames’s 
solution seems to require some explanation. Mr. Brewster tells me that 
the identicalness of the Velio w Rail and the ‘Kicker’ did not impress 
him after reading Mr. Ames’s article for two reasons: first, that the Yellow 
Rail’s notes were heard in the autumn, and second, that it uttered its 
cries when disturbed or irritated by the presence of persons in the room 
or by the light of the lamp. He also says, “nothing is more certain to 
my mind than that what I have heard is the spontaneous love song of the 
Kicker, and that it is uttered chiefly if not solely during the season of 
reproduction. Assuming (what is quite possible, of course) that it may 
be occasionally produced in autumn, I do not consider it likely that it 
would be ever given under conditions such as Mr. Ames describes.” 
In discussing the probable identity of the ‘Ornithological Mystery’ 
Mr. Brewster dismisses the Yellow Rail with the statement: “There are 
no good reasons for suspecting that the Yellow Rail ever breeds in any 
part of New England.” However, now that it has been found in Massa- 
chusetts at a corresponding date to some of the ‘Kickers,’ and under 
conditions which may possibly indicate its breeding in the vicinity, it 
may at least be considered in determining the identity of the latter. 
Theoretically it seems hardly probable that two different species of birds 
could utter exactly the same notes, regardless of season. This combined 
with the fact that the notes of the Little Black Rail as heard in the south, 
where its calls have been identified, do not bear a close resemblance to 
the notes of the ‘Kicker’ would seem to point towards the Yellow Rail 
as a solution of the mystery. 
With the exception of gunners, few persons have met the Yellow Rail, 
and comparatively little is known of the bird during the breeding season. 
Mr. Edward A. Preble has described their notes in ‘ North American Fauna ’ 
(No. 22, page 93) and has written me as follows about the birds which he 
heard near York Factory, Hudson Bay: “The notes I heard were a suc- 
cession of chips or clucks somewhat similar to the alarm notes of a Brown 
Thrasher, but less sharp. Stated in ‘kiks’ it would be ‘kik-kik, kik kik 
kik.’ Sometimes an additional ‘kik’ was given, making the last bar con- 
sist of four instead of three notes. I did not hear the ‘crow’ alluded to 
by Mr. Brewster, but it is quite possible I did not hear the full song, as 
my observation covered only a part of one day. In spite of this discrep- 
ancy I have been of the opinion that the notes described by Mr. Brewster 
were those of the Yellow Rail.” 
The secretive habits of both these Rails as well as the difficulty of ob- 
serving or securing them in the spring makes one record at this season of 
exceptional value, and the above instance seems worthy of some consid- 
eration until more is known of the breeding range of Porzana novebora- 
censis . — F. B. McKechnie, Ponkapog, Mass. ^ 
Actfs, X.X111, Oct., 1906, p .^n~ * ' 
