X 
V 
V 
OF BIRD LIFE ' V 
The momentum of the canoe carried us far into the reeds 
ft up to the shore. We sat there a few minutes to rest. 
Gazing about me among the tall dead grasses as high as our 
heads, I noticed a tussock that looked suspicious. Eagerly 
shovingNyith my paddle I pushed the canoe up to the spot and 
patting the grass, beheld nine eggs. It was now almost dark 
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'\ and I was unable to distinguish their coloring, which next dav 
# proved to belong to a pair of sora rails. After marking the spot 
w r e paddled out to mid stream, and set our direction for home, 
elated w T ith the discovery; this being the first nest of sora rail 
I had ever found. 
Early next morning just as dawm began to glow in the east¬ 
ern sky, I anchored my canoe down the shore about a hundred 
v , 
feet from th^ nest, and quietly approached the home of the 
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sora rail. It was about five feet from the water’s edge and I 
'•*/$’ \ mI j / | "v. 
could easily observe it with the aid of my field glasses from that 
\ 
point of vantage. The high grasses/ 
excellent blind. 
me afforded an 
to. 
I could see the yellow-billed, browm-eyed little mother 
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upon the nest as I gazed through the reeds. Her olive-brown 
ft._^ . A , /, / [ ‘j 
back, mingled with black and white spots and stripes showed 
plainly through the rushes. Just before the sun arose, she 
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■ mm * ^ * / ’ ' ; .. j. • 
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