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Jan., 1915 WITH R.'ILLUS IN THE TEXAS MARSH 5 in the marsh, and began my search for the nest of that small Warbler. Com- mon sense advised me to begin at the site of the former nest; so I slowly made my way through the rushes and grasses and was soon parting the tops of the particular clump which in 1911 hid the tiny nest. With a quick gasp, I stopped in my tracks, for the moment not comprehending my find. For there before me, not a foot from my hands, lay the elusive nest. land Yellow-throat, but a nest of the Louisiana Clapper Rail ( Railus crep- itans saturatus) contain- ing eleven eggs. Though for the moment dizzy with ?ny good fortune, I soon recovered and began to look around for Mrs. Rail. Though [ searched for some time and watched carefully in the vicinity of the nest, she was not observed. The following after- noon, on June 7, I re- turned to the nest in com- pany with Mr. Geo. B. Ewing of Houston, this time armed with a 3-A Folding Brownie. A care- ful search failed to reveal a single rail, but the nest was just as we had left it, so we got busy by pro- miscuously shooting at the nest and general sur- roundings with the Brow- nie. To beguile the re- mainder of the two hours spent in the vicinity, each of us took turns in snap- ping the other in ap- p r o v e d ornithological pose, namely: standing by the nest, chest ex- panded, and with one hand parting the rushes to show the eggs while the other allows its No, not a nest of the Mary- I thumb to snuggle in the amn-hole of the vest. During the last few moments at the nest I had been pondering whether or not it would be best to take the eggs, for it seemed that they must be deserted. As much time as we had spent at the nest on the two trips, not a rail had we seen. Finally I came to my decision: Should the eggs be in condition to blow Fig. 2. NEST AND ELEVEN EGGS OF THE LOUISIA?'A CLAPPER RAIL, AS PHOTOGRAPHED JU.NE 7, 1914. OBSERVE HOW SECURELY THE .?EST IS SET AMONG THI? ' RUSHES, OVER A FOOT ABOVE THE GROUND, SO THAT IT IS OUT OF REACII OF HIGH WATER