270 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Its very long and unwebbed toes make large chicken-like tracks spaced about 

 10 inches apart in the soft mud of the slough banks, and these are very easy to 

 recognize. The voice, too, is characteristic. It is a harsh, mechanical cackling — 

 "chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck," or " cheek-a-cheek-a-check" — uttered rapidly for 

 several seconds and sounding as if two or more birds rather than a single one were 

 participating in its production. When flushed this rail jumps almost straight up 

 into the air for 6 or 8 feet and then flies off in a clumsy manner, its short, 

 narrow wings moving at the rate of two or three beats per second. These flights 

 are usually short, the bird soon dropping down again into the protection of the 

 marsh vegetation. 



Like all rails, the clapper rail is, when need be, very skillful at keeping out of 

 sight. Sometimes individuals appear shy, flushing at a distance, or running 

 toward the denser vegetation at great speed, with lowered head and elusive 

 mien; at other times they walk out into the open in bottoms of sloughs at close 

 range and view the intruder seemingly with perfect equanimitj'. They have a 

 long running stride, and the body is held close to the ground. The narrowlj' 

 compressed body enables them to slip easily between the rigid upright stems of 

 a sort of rush which grows in thick beds along the larger salt sloughs. If not 

 thoroughly alarmed, rails will sometimes stop or hesitate on open ground, when 

 the peculiar twitching movement of the tail may be clearly seen. This member 

 is held vertically and the twitching of it is rendered conspicuous because of the 

 white color flashed from the undertail coverts. When walking, the head and 

 tail twitch forward in unison with each stride. When thoroughly alarmed this 

 rail wiU take to water and swim considerable distances, as, in one observed 

 instance, across a 30-foot slough. 



Mr. Adams (1900) says: 



During several seasons of collecting, I have noticed that some days I would 

 kill nothing but males of this species, while at another place only females were 

 shot. Again when two of us were separated on the marsh one would procure 

 males and the other females only. This would indicate that in fall and winter 

 at least, the sexes resort to different feeding grounds. The birds fly very heavily 

 and only for short distances, but the fleetness of foot is as remarkable as it is 

 ungainly. When wounded they make good use of their legs and claws as well 

 as their bill. The rail rarely swims for the mere pleasure it affords, but it can 

 often be seen crossing a large slough, and when injured is very agile in the 

 water. 



Game. — I must quote again from Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer 

 (1918), regarding the game qualities of this species, as follows: 



The California clapper rail has long been considered an excellent bird for the 

 table, and formerly great numbers were sold on the markets of San Francisco. 

 The weight of an adult bird, freshly taken by the authors, was three-fourths of 

 a pound (340 grams) ; so that the food value of h clapper rail as regards size is 

 not inconsiderable. The sport furnished in hunting clapper rails is of a rather 

 tame sort; for the birds are ordinarily not wild, and, owing to their slow, or sluggish, 

 straightaway flight, are easy to hit on the wing. Unlike many other game birds, 

 this one seems to be but slightly endowed with effective means of self-preserva- 

 tion. When pursued, a clapper rail is said to sometimes hide its head, ostrich- 

 like, in a tuft of grass; and it is not an uncommon thing for dogs to catch the birds 

 alive. For these reasons, as well as for the fact that they are considered by 

 many to be excellent eating, these rails have been slaughtered in great numbers. 



Few game birds in this State were more surely on the road to total extinction 

 than was this species just previous to the passage of the Federal Migratory Bird 



