592 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts , Letters. 
that it was almost impossible to force a way among them with 
a boat.. A few nests containing eggs, however, were examined. 
The nests were large piles of rushes placed among thick clumps 
of rushes, A depression in the top held the eggs. The nests 
rested on rushes, with the lower part in the water. They were 
eight or ten inches high, above the water. In diameter they 
measured from nine to fourteen inches, and the depth of the 
hollow was about two inches. When the colony was visited, 
July 6, the eggs examined were well advanced in incubation. 
Four was apparently the number most commonly laid. As the 
rookery was approached, the birds rose from their nests and 
flew about in a cloud, at a safe distance from the intruder. The 
eggs are oval-elliptical, and bluish-green in color. Specimens 
taken measure from 1.99x1.46 to 1.87x1.40. Ho eggs taken 
were as large as eggs of this Heron from Wisconsin. 
206. SlANDHILL OrANE. 
Grus mexicana (Mull.). 
Saadhill Cranes were occasionally seen flying over, or feeding 
in small flocks in the grain fields. Sometimes their antics, strut¬ 
ting about with outstretched wings and an up and down “bow¬ 
ing” movement, are very amusing. 
Ho nests were observed, but one was reported by a native. It 
was said to be built near a spring in a marshy meadow. 
212. Virginia Hail. 
Ballus virginianus (Linn.). 
This little Rail was frequently seen running about on the mud 
and vegetation in the edge of sloughs, in search of food. The 
bird has a peculiar walk, or run, moving its head and neck for¬ 
ward and backward and its tail up and down, in time with its 
•steps. The shrill cry uttered by the Rail is sometimes rather 
startling. If one walks carefully through the tall, thick grass in 
the edge of a slough he may come upon a nest of the Virginia 
Rail with Mrs. Rail at home. If the bird is found on her nest, 
she will quickly and quietly slide off into the water and sneak 
away through the grass. When she has got away a little dis- 
