Rails SHOEE AND MARSH BIRDS. 



Season : Common summer resident from Connecticut southward. 



May winter. 

 Breeds : In dense marslies, most abundantly in tlie Carolinas. 

 Nest : A collection of grasses and reeds ; on the ground, barely out of 



the reach of water. 

 Eggs : Numerous, 6-12, cream- white, speckled with reddish brown. 

 Bange : Salt-marshes of the Atlantic coast of the United States, from 



New Jersey southward ; resident from the Potomac southward, 



casually north to Massachusetts. 



The Clapper Eail is one of the noisiest of most obstrep- 

 erous of Shore-birds. It straggles to the Massachusetts 

 coast in summer, and is at times quite plentiful, but irregu- 

 larly so. This is the species that is killed in great numbers 

 among the salt-marshes in the neighbourhood of Atlantic 

 City, N. J. It takes its name — longirostris, long bill, and 

 crepitans, crepitating, clattering — from the extra length 

 of its bill and the incessant noise that it makes, especially 

 in the breeding-season. These Rails have a most ludicrous 

 gait, tipping forward as they run. 



Virginia Rail: Rallus virginianiis. 



Plate XII. Pig. 2. 



Length : variable, 8.50-10.50 inches. 



Male and Female : General tone streaky and reddish. Above dark 

 brown plainly streaked with olive, a white line from the bill 

 extending over the eye. TJiroat white. Below bright reddish ; 

 wings dark brown ; coverts chestnut ; tail dark brown barred 

 with white. 



Season : A common summer resident, breeding on the salt-marshes. 

 Sometimes winters. 



Breeds; Northward from Pennsylvania. 



Nest : A slight mat of grasses in a clump of reeds near water, 

 usually in an inaccessible place. 



Eggs : G-8, resembling those of the last species. 



Bange : North America, from the British Provinces south to Guate- 

 mala. 



A very pretty species, having a general ruddy tint and 

 being abundant both in fresh and salt marshes. It is 



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