672 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — ALECTOBIDES — BALLIFOEMES. 



673. R. longiros'tris cre'pitans. (Lat. longirostris, long-billed. Lat. crepitans, crepitating, 

 clatteriug. Fig. 4G5.) Clapper Rail. Salt-water Marsh-hen. Mud-hen. <? 9, adult: 

 Above, variegated with dark olive-browu and pale olive-ash, the latter edgiug the feathers, 



the variegation dull and 

 blended. Below, pale dull 

 ochrey-brown, whitening 

 on the throat, frequently 

 ashy-shaded on the breast, 

 without decided cinnamon- 

 brown shade. Flanks, ax- 

 iUars, and lining of wings, 

 fuscous-gi'ay, with sharp 

 narrow white bars. QuiUs 

 and tail plain dark-brown, 

 without chestnut on the 

 coverts. Eyelids and short 

 superciliary Une whitish. 

 The general tone is that 

 of a grmj bird, without 

 any reddislmess. Young 



Fig. 465. — Clapper Kail, reduced. (Altered from Lewis.) 



676. 



mostly soiled whitish below; when just from the egg entirely sooty black. Length 14.00- 

 16.00; extent about 20.00 ; wing 5.00-6.00; tail 2.00-2.50; bill 2.00-2.50; tarsus 1.67-2.00; 

 middle toe and claw 2.00-2.33. 9 smaller than the $. Salt marshes of Atlantic States, ex- 

 tremely abundant southerly ; N. regularly to the middle districts, sometimes to Massachusetts. 

 Resident from the Carolinas southward. Breeds in profusion in the marshes of the Carolinas, 

 etc., where its clattering is almost incessant dming the mating season. Nest a rude platfornx 

 of reeds and grasses just out of the water on the ground. Eggs 6 to 12, averaging 1.67 X 1-12. 

 whitish, creamy, or buff, variously speckled and blotched with reddish-brown, with a few 

 obscure lavender marks. 



R. 1. obsole'tus. (Lat. obsoletiis, obsolete; referring to the marldngs of the upper parts in 

 comparison with those of B. elegans.) California Clapper Rail. Back and scapulars 

 grayish-ohve, indistinctly striped with dusky ; breast deep cinnamon. General aspect of the 

 last, but quite reddish below. Wing 6.50; bill 2.25-2.50, its least depth 0.33; tarsus 2.10- 

 2.25. Salt marshes of the California coast. 



R. 1. satura'tus. (Lat. saturatus, saturated, satiated, i.e. dark-colored.) Louisiana 

 Clapper Rail. In general similar to crepitans ; above, olive-gray or ashy, broadly striped 

 with brownish -black ; breast dull cinnamon. ''Louisiana." 



R. elegans. (Lat. elegans, choice.) King Rail. Fresh-water Marsh-hen. With 

 a general resemblance to crepitans, but larger and much more brightly colored. Adult $ 9 : 

 Above, distinctly streaked with brownish -black and tawny-olive, the darker color being the 

 central field of each feather ; becoming rich chestnut on the wing-coverts, and plain dark brown 

 on the hind-neck and top of head. Below, rich rufous or cinnamon-red, brightest on breast, 

 fading on throat and belly ; a line of the same over the eye, and dusky line through eye ; lower 

 eyelid white. Flanks and lining of wings blackish, broadly and distinctly barred with white ; 

 some of the crissal feathers similar. Specimens vaiy much in the richuess of the tints and 

 distinctness of the markings, but the reddish and streaky tone is always quite different from 

 the dull blended colors of crepitans. Length 17.00-19.00; extent 23.00-25.00; mng 6.00- 

 7.00 ; bill 2.10-2.50 ; tarsus 2.30 ; middle toe and claw about the same. U. S., rather south- 

 erly, Texas to the Middle States regularly, to Connecticut casually ; in the interior to Kansas 



