136 
1868. 
Rallus virginianus. 
Middlosox County, Mass, 
Apr. 18. 
Shot a female. 
“ 29. 
One in the Brickyard Swamp making a variety of odd 
sounds, one a harsh chatter, another a song precisely 
like that of the Spotted Sandpiper, but in a lower key, 
I shot the bird and found it to be a female. 
May 2. 
Shot tv?o males and a female in the Brickyard Swamp, 
They skulked through the bushes, under cover of the mea- 
dov/ tussocks, and were difficult to flush. Their song 
resembles the syllables ke-ke-ke-ke~ke-ke-ke-ke-ko ^ begin¬ 
ning slowly, running together at the end, and uttered in 
a snarling tone. 
“ 23. 
A female permitted mo to approach v;ithin a few feet, 
then rose without the slightest difficulty, and with legs 
drawn up flow some distance nearly as swiftly as a Snipe, 
'• 26. 
Savr one building. 
Juno 2. 
Pound several nests to-day. The first which was 
built of dry grass and placed in the top of a tussock, 
contained six fresh eggs. The second vras a bulky 
affair about fifteen inches high and raised betvmen the 
stwms of some alder bushes; it contained nine fresh eggs. 
The old birds skulked silently away from both of them, 
but the female of a third which contained nine eggs near¬ 
ly hatched suffered herself to be touched before she 
would move, and afterwards came up within a few feet of 
me vralking up the branches of some briar bushes and utter¬ 
ing shrill cries. 
July 11, 
Male singing. 
* 18. 
One started by my dog took a long flight with legs 
drawn up, flying with great swiftness and zig-zaging 
through the bushes almost exactly like a Snipe. 
Sopt.26, 
Shot one and heard another sing. 
OCtn* l0'« 
1 
One, 
1869. 
May 6. 
Heard several in the Prosh Pond swamps. 
“ 29. 
Found an old bird followed by six vouns annarently 
several days old and covered entirely with black down. 
1870 
May 3. 
Heard numbers. 
1871. 
AprvdlO. 
Heard about a dozen all of which must have arrived 
last night as there were none in the swamps on the 17th. 
