Mar., 1909 NEST OF THE DUSKY POORWILL 47 saw a Dusky Poor-Will fly up just in front of him and about where one had flushed on the evening previously mentioned. The foreman called out, "Did you see that funny-looking bird?" and a second after as he took another step he exclaimed, "Hello! Here's somewhiteeggs!" Not having had such good fortune in all these many years as to find a nest of these birds it was an interesting moment, and a great fear possessed me that the eggs might be those of some belated pair of Mourning Doves, and that the Poor-Will having been in close vicinity to them was a m?re coincidence. A look at the eggs, however, was very reassuring, but to be absolutely positive it was necessary to hide and await the parent's return. This was not a very tedious wait in this case as the female soon appeared and settled most satisfactorily upon her eggs. Having a camera with me I carefully studied how to get her on a plate, but this seemed a hopeless task. She would let me approach to about twelve feet, but that was all. On account of the low rocks near her nest there was only one side from which an exposure could be made. The weather was foggy, to say nothing of a strong wind, and as no shadows were cast the negative was bound to be flat, with rocks and ground of about the same light values. Despairing of getting anything better under the circumstances I took the best exposure I could make and then "collected" the set. Upon de- veloping these negatives they were found to be extremely flat, as was expected, so, two or three days later--the first day, in fact, that leisure permitted--I rode up on the ridge 'with the blown eggs, carefully packed you may be sure, prints of the best negatives, and my camera, to try to improve on the first lot. Replacing the eggs exactly as they were originally I tried for some time to get something more satisfactory. It was again foggy and windy4the fog condensing on the lens of the cornera when focusing--and but little could be done in the way of improving over the first attempts. In reality the rock behind the eggs stands up some three feet, the eggs being at the base of it, with two good-sized stones lying in front of them; but the prints all give an impression of an almost flat sur- face, gently sloping backwards. In the afternoon the sun would have been in the camera's eye, if the fog cleared away, and th? wind very strong, so the morning was the only chance for an exposure. Even at six feet, supposing the bird would have allowed so close an approach, it is extremely problematical.if she would have been discernable in a negative, as she was just about the color of the charred leaves and small stones surrounding her. The cut shows a few straws of dry grass a little distance away from the eggs. This is the only semblance of a nest there was. The eggs were placed upon the bare fragments of rock and these straws seemed rather to have been pushed out of the way than brough. t together for any purpose. The incubation of this set was about one-third along. Query: was this a second set, the first having been de- stroyed ? Or is this the customary date of breeding of this bird in the locality? San (;eronimo, Cahfornia. NOTES ON THE CALIFORNIA BLACK RAIL By FRANK STEPHENS ANY years ago Mr. H. W. Henshaw told me that he had been informed that California Black Rails (Creciscus coturniculus) were sometimes com- mon in the salt marshes around San Diego Bay. In our conversation Mr. Henshaw seemed to be under the impression that these Rails were but migrants at San Diego and that they were most likely to be found very late in the autumn,
