RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS 



205 



slow-flving^ g;ame as it rises fruni the scant co\-er 

 of the exposed tops of the g^rass. 



Durinsj the breeding,' season one may find many 

 nests within a small area. The following descrip- 

 tion of one of their favorite nesting colonies is 

 quoted from my notes made at the time of my 

 visit: 



'■ ■ Jacks Grass ' is a low island of perhaps 

 twenty acres on the North Carolina coast near 

 New Inlet. It has no trees, but is covered gen- 

 erally with grass eight or ten inches long. Small 

 clumps of rushes growing rarely o\er three feet 

 high are scattered over the island, and in nearly 

 every one of these a Clapper Rail's nest was 

 found. These were composed of marsh-grass 

 blades and stalks, and were built from six to 

 eight inches above the wet sod. The fragments 

 of grass used varied from four to si.x inches in 

 length, shorter pieces being employed for the toji 

 layers. The nests measured about eight inches 

 across the top, and were of uniform width from 

 the bottom. On May 13 two of the nests ex- 

 amined each held eight slightly incubated eggs, 

 and one nest of ten eggs was seen. C)ne was 

 found with two freshly deposited eggs, and 

 another had four incubated eggs. Egg-shells 

 from which the _\-oung had but shortly departed 

 were found in one instance. L'sually the nests 

 were not screened from view by anv arching of 

 the rushes above them. Along the banks of the 

 tide creeks that traversed the island the marsh 

 grass was often two or more feet in length. Here 

 were many co\ered runwa}'S of the liirds, some 

 of which were several yards in length." 



Three distinct subspecies, or climatic varieties, 

 of this Clapper Rail have been recognized by 

 naturalists. One is the Louisiana, or Ilenshaw's, 

 Clapper Rail (Rallits crepitans safiiratits). chiefly 

 distinguished b)- ha\ing its feathers darker 



colored than the common varietA" : the Florida 

 Clap|>er Rail (Ralliis crcpita)is scntti). a form 

 that is still darker; and Wayne's Clapper Rail 

 i Rallitx crcpita/is wayuci) , found from North 

 Carolina southward. Two closely allied but dis- 

 tinct species occurring elsewhere in North 

 .\nierica are the California Clapper Rail {Ralliis 



Photu by P. B. Piiilipp Courtesy uE Xat. Asso. Au.i. rioc. 



NEST AND EGGS OF CLAPPER RAIL 



Stone Harbor, New Jersey 



obsolctus) , of the salt marshes of the Pacific 

 coast, and the Caribbean Clapper Rail ( Ralliis 

 loiujirostyis caribccus), found in Texas and the 

 \\'est Indies. The general habits of all are very 

 similar to the more familiar eastern bird. 



T. < iii-i;i;i(T Pearsox. 



VIRGINIA RAIL 

 Rallus virginianus Linucvus 



.■\. O. l,\ Xumlier jij See (olor i'l.ite 25 



Other Names.— I.ittlo Red-breasted Rail : Small Mud 

 Hen : Frcsli-water Marsh Hen ; Long-billed Rail. 



General Description. — Length, ii inches. Like the 

 Kint; Rail e.xcept for smaller size. 



Color. — .'\mJi-TS : Crown, back of neck, and upper 

 parts, pale olive-brown, streaked on back and rump with 



dark brownish-black: sides of head and checks, ashy: 

 lores and a narrow semi-circle below eye white; chin 

 and upper throat, white; neck and breast, rich chestnut: 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts, dusky with narrow 

 white traverse bars ; wing-coverts, chestnut; secondaries, 

 brownish-black ed.ged with olive; primaries and tail. 



