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 48 THE CONDOR VOL. XI In 1886 I was living near San Bernardino. In December of that year I drove to San Diego and spent several days looking for California Black Rails, without success. Some of the local hunters knew of them and one of them a few days later sent me one in the flesh. He wrote that he had killed it near Encinitas, some twenty-five miles up the coast. My next acquaintance with the species was November 16, 1902, when a young friend brought me one which he said he had caught that day with his hands on the railroad track near the foot of 14th street in San Diego, at high tide. At this place the railroad tracks cross a tide marsh, which is now being filled. Last spring the manual training teacher here told me that one of his pupils had found the eggs of the California Black Rail in a marsh near National City. This lad told me about where he had found the nests and said the birds were com- mon there. At Mr. Grinnell's suggestion I tried trapping for the Rails with mouse traps set in the marsh vegetation. I kept three dozen traps out a week or so but caught no Rails. I did get several sparrows and a number of harvest mice (lr?eil - rodonlomys) and meadow mice (Microlus). When setting the traps I found an egg, undoubtedly of this species, lodged in the marsh plants where it evidently had floated at high tide. Its contents were thoroly dried, but the egg was otherwise in fine condition and apparently had not been incubated. I suspect that nests are often inundated by extra high tides. As trapping proved unsuccessful I had the lad come and show me just where he found the nests and found that I was not trap- ping in the best place. May 28th, we tramped thru the marsh two or three hours and flushed one California Black Rail which I shot. This boy gave me considerable information about the habits of these Rails which I will summarize. He had done much hunting for the nests and thought he was lucky if he found a nest in half-a-day's steady search. The nest seems to be usually situated in very thick marsh vegetation (Salicornia, etc.) near the highest limits of the high tide. He carefully turned over all the upper part of the mass of plants foot by foot. He said the nests were always covered, but were usually from an inch to several inches above the ground. I understood him to say that he had found several empty nests, some not yet used, and some which the young birds had left. He said that he had never found any bird at the nest, which might be expected from the nests being so well hidden and the ease with which the bird could slip off and keep out of sight. He said he found eggs about the middle of March and about the 20th of April. Five and six seems to be the usual number but he knew of one set that contained eight eggs. All the eggs he knew of had been found in the last four years in a tract of less than 100 acres. He said that he had heard notes that he believed Were made by th. is Rail and described them as a sort of clicking sound. He thinks that at low tide the Rails hide in . crab holes, at times. In June, 1908, I looked for California Black Rils about False Bay, which is a short distance northwest of San Diego Bay, but within the city limits. The 22d, I was there at low tide, and when passing along a broad tide creek I saw one crouched in the mud a few feet from the bank. It stood perfectly still, with head lowered, as if expecting to be overlooked. It was so near that I killed it with my .32 caliber auxilliary. A few days later I hunted a part of the marsh at high tide late in the afternoon. On my way to camp at dusk in a place where the marsh lay at the foot of a bluff one flushed almost under my feet and lit a dozen yards away among the debris lodged at the foot of the hill and stood there in the open, tho not to be seen distinctly because of the gathering darkness. I fired at it, without effect. The bird flew out over the water and then turned around the