THE BIRD BOOK 



King Rail. 

 Clapper Rail. 



the coast of Louisiana, 

 brigliter in plumage. 



211. Clapper Rail. Rallus crepitans 

 crepitans. 



Range. — Salt marshes of the Atlantic coast 

 from southern New England southward. 



A grayish colored Rail, about the size of, and 

 with the markings similar to those of the King 

 Rail. It is as exclusively a salt water species as 

 the King Rail is a fresh water one. With the 

 possible exception of the Carolina or Sora Rail, 

 this is the most abundant of all the Rails, hun- 



^' BulT. 



dreds nesting in a single marsh on the South 

 Atlantic coast. Their nests are built of rushes 

 and weeds, and are placed on the ground either in 

 the tall grass bordering the marshes or attached 

 to the rushes in the midst of the marsh. The 

 nesting season commences during April and con- 

 tinues through May. They lay from six to four- 

 teen eggs, of a buff color spotted irregularly with 

 brown and gray. Size 1.70 x 1.20. 



21 la. Louisiana Clapper Rail. Rallus crep- 

 itans saturatus. 

 The habitation of this subspecies is limited to 

 It is very similar to the proceeding but is said to be 





211b. Florida Clapper Rail. Rallus crepitans scotti. 



Range. — Western coast of Florida. 



This bird is also similar to crepitans but is much darker and brighter. 



211c. Wayne's Clapper Rail. Rallus crepitans waynei. 



Range. — South Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida. 



This subspecies is a little darker than crepitans, being about midway be- 

 tween that species and Rallus scotti. The nests and eggs of any of these sub- 

 species cannot be distinguished from those of the common Clapper Rail. 



211.2. Caribbean Clapper Rail. Ralhis longirostris carihaeus. 



Range. — West Indies and east coast of Mexico, north to southern Texas. 

 This species is similar to the Clapper, but has a shorter and relatively stouter 

 bill. 



132 



