Congdon — 8aslcaicheiuan Birds. 
503 
tance, she give© her piercing cry of alarm; or perhaps the cry is 
intended to allure the intruder away from the nest. 
The nest is situated in a thick clump of tall grass, just above 
the water, and] the grass-blades come together above the nest so 
as to conceal it from view, in a manner so natural as to attract 
no attention. The materials used in constructing the nest are 
grass-blades or rushes, with a lining of grass. The number of 
eggs found in a nest was from eight to twelve. A set of ten 
eggs, in which incubation was well advanced, was taken on 
June 17. The ground color of the eggs varies from cream or 
buff to almost pure white, spotted mainly about the large end 
with reddish brown and a few markings of obscure lilac. The 
average size of the specimens taken is 1.29x.92. 
214. Sora. 
Porzana Carolina (Linn.). 
The Sora was observed to be more numerous than the 
Virginia Rail in this locality. About the edge of almost every 
grassy slough or reed-grown pool, a, pair or more of these birds 
had their nest. In situation and construction, the nest of the 
Sora is very similar to that of the Virginia Rail. It is gen¬ 
erally placed in a tuft of tall grass, over five or six inches of 
water. S'ometimes the nest is built in a clump of reeds, when 
the material used in its structure is largely reed-stems with a 
lining of grass. An average nest, measures eight inches in out¬ 
side diameter, four inches in inside diameter; outside depth 
five inches, and inside depth two and one-fourth inches. The 
rim of the nest slopes gradually on the inside so that the hollow 
is much the shape of a saucer. The base of the nest is. about 
on the water level; and the top of the rim, five or six inches 
above the water. 
Rresh eggs of the Sora Rail were taken as late as June 17. 
The earliest date on which eggs were observed is May 31. On 
June 18, a, nest was found containing one young bird and eight 
eggs. The number of eggs constituting a set was found to be 
from eight to sixteen, the latter number being the largest ob¬ 
served in a nest. 
38 
