the contrast with his extreme stability while standing on one foot on a stable support such as the nest or the ground. In such a po- sition he perform all the complex operations of drying himself after a bath, preening and stretching without a wabble. He is a thorough and conscientious bather, throwing the water upon his back with his neck and head and rubbing himself with the latter. From my experience in hunting in the marshes south of here years ago I had learned to consider the rail as an exceptionally shy bird; but. as noted, this one became tame at once. Three days ago, while returning from the Oakland Air Port about 4:30 P.M., I saw a rail bathing in one of the narrow channels that wander about the marsh, stopped my car and went out to look at it. It permitted me to ap- proach within 10 feet and then merely wandered off slowly and casually, taking perhaps 5 minutes to go 50 feet, and searching for food under the salicornia which overhung the bank in the meantime. It stopped there, and after watching for a time I left it in posses- sion of the field. At no time did it make any attempt to conceal itself and I was in full view all of the time except for about the last hundred feet of my approach and my appearance then was necessar- ily sudden since there was no cover of any kind. It was a Virginia rail like the one in the cage to the last feather. B stays home. 4:50 P.M. Well, whether my action had anything to do with it or not, Brownie stayed at home all day and could be located at any time. Much of his time was spent in sub-song and he was well re- warded for staying on the job. Hawks were about, though not so many raids as usual. (Max. temp. 69; min. 52 (?)). At exactly 5:09 Brownie settled in his nest for the night. Sunset, 4:50, temp. 60). Unlike Rhody, he does not make it a point to be in his roost before sunset. Dec. 10th.