July, 1912 NOTES ON WA1)ING BIRI)S OF BARR LAKE REGION, CO1,ORADO 119 gracefully took wing and our last glimpse of him showed him flying true and strong over half a mile away. Whatever induced that bird to permit us to pick him up and handle him in the way we did will of course remain a mystery. The birds arrived in the latter part of April (the 25th) and eggs were laid the latter part of May. An unusually early nest contained three young and two eggs May 26, 1906. A nest containing two fresh eggs on May 24, 1907, contained freshly hatched young on June 22. The young develop nmch faster than young of the Night Herons. and upon the strength of rather scanty data I think they leave the nests within two weeks after hatching. Railus virginianus. VIRGINIA RAIL. Porzana carolina. Both species of rails nested in large nmnbers, the Virginias apparently being somewhat commoner than the Soras. Both species frequented the lnsh, wet, It
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Fig. 46. NEST AND EGGS OF SORA SHO?,V1NG GRASSES BROKEN DOWN OVER NEST TO FORM A SORT OF CANOPY seepage land and the nests were almost without exception found in clumps of dense. long, round-stemmed marsh grass. The conceahnent of these nests was wonderful, fully equalling if not surpassing the best concealed nests of the Teal ducks. It was practically impossible to flush the birds directly from their nests. They would skulk through the grass for a dozen feet or more and then take flight. Even where we knew the location of the nest and dashed up at full speed we were seldom able to make the bird take directly to the air. The habit of the Sofas of bending over the tops of the grasses and rushes surrounding the nest to form a sort of canopy over it is I believe peculiar to this species, and well built nests of this type are among the most beautiful of the ground nests.
