t the distance of thirty or forty yards,
though, imperceptible to a common eye. The eggs are of a pale clay
color, sprinkled with small spots of dark red, and measure somewhat
more than an inch and a half in length by an inch in breadth, being
rather obtuse at the small end. These eggs are delicious eating, far
surpassing those of the domestic hen. The height of laying is about
the first of June, when the people of the neighborhood go to the
marshes _an egging_, as it is so called. So abundant are the nests of
this species, and so dexterous some persons at finding them, that one
hundred dozen of eggs have been collected by one man in a day. At this
time the crows, the minx, and the foxes, come in for their share, but,
not content with the eggs, these last often seize and devour the
parents also. The bones, feathers, wings, &c., of the poor mud hen lie
in heaps by the hole of the minx, by which circumstance, however, he
himself is often detected and destroyed." It seems as if the very
elements were in conspiracy against these birds; they "are subject to
another calamity of a more extensive kind; after the greater part of
the eggs are laid there sometimes happen violent north-east tempests
that drive a great sea into the bay, covering the whole marshes; so
that at such times the Rail may be seen in hundreds floating over the
marsh in great distress; many escape to the main land, and vast
numbers perish. On an occasion of this kind I have seen, at one view,
thousands in a single meadow, walking about exposed and bewildered,
while the dead bodies of the females, who perished on or near their
nests, were strewed along the shore. The last circumstance shows how
strong the tie of maternal affection is in these birds, for, of the
great number which I picked up and opened, not one male was to be
found among them, all were females; such as had not yet begun to sit
probably escaped. These disasters do not prevent the survivors from
recommencing the work of laying and building anew; and instances have
occurred in which their eggs have been twice destroyed by the sea, and
yet in two weeks the nests and eggs seemed as numerous as ever. If all
is well, the young are soon able to run about, which they do with
great swiftness, and tread the grass and other marsh plants with
wonderful dexterity. They can swim in smooth water, though they are,
of course, ill able to contend with an inbreak of the sea. Swimming is
a much more severe action