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GENUS RALLUS — LINN. 



RAIL. 



[Bill longer than the head, slender, thick at the base, compressed head small; 

 neck long ; body more compressed than the preceding ; wings short, broad ; tail 

 very short, rounded, of twelve weak feathers ; tarsi rather long, stout ; toes four ; 

 hind toe small ; fore toes very long, slender — free ] 



RALLUS CREPITANS— GMEL. 



CLAPPER RAIL, OR SALT WATER MARSH HEN. 



Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans, Wits. 



Clapper Rail, Nuttall. 



Clapper Rail, or Salt Water Marsh Hen, Rallus crepitans, Aud. 



Specific Character — Bill, along the gap, two inches and three 

 eighths ; tarsi one and three quarters ; total length fifteen inches, wing' 

 five and three-eighths ; iris pale yellow. 



Adult with the upper part of the head and hind neck olivaceous 

 brown — a brownish orange line from the bill to the eye ; upper 

 parts of the body streaked with greenish-olive and light gray ; wing 

 coverts dull olive, tinged with gray — some of the feathers irregu- 

 larly marked with dull white ; primaries olive-brown ; secondaries 

 and tail feathers same color as the back ; loral space, cheeks, sides, 

 and fore part of the neck bluish-gray, the latter tinged with pale 

 yellowish-brown, of which color is the fore part of the breast ; hind 

 part of abdomen, and middle lower tail coverts, undulated with 

 deep grayish-brown and grayish-white ; lateral tail coverts with 

 4he outer webs white ; middle of abdomen grayish-white ; irides 

 pale yellow ; lovv^er eyelid white. Female smaller, with the colors 

 duller. 



The Clapper Rail, or " Meadow Hen " as it is named by the 

 gunners, resides throughout the year in the Southern States. To 

 the eastward of Long Island it is not common ; neither is it so 



