366 Simmons, The Louisiana Clapper Rail. l^y 



from the Gulf of Mexico. Then, too, I have studied the birds 

 in the marshes on Galveston Bay and in Galveston County. 



Mr. E. F. Pope made numerous observations on Bolivar Penin- 

 sula, Galveston Bay, between July 26, 1911, and the latter part 

 of March, 1913. In that year and a half he covered well the 

 extensive marshes from the "Point" to a flag-station called Flake, 

 eight miles up the peninsula. He found the rail to be a common, 

 and at times abundant, resident of these marshes where it breeds. 



According to Mr. R. E. Farley, the Louisiana Clapper Rail is 

 resident and breeds on Harbor Island, a small island about three 

 miles north of Port Aransas, Texas. Formerly abundant, now 

 scarce, the birds have always been more common from April to 

 October than in winter. 



Mr. John M. Prior's notes refer mainly to the Harbor Island 

 rails; on that island he, too, found the birds resident and breeding. 

 He states that he found them more common in April, May and 

 June than in winter. In addition to finding the rails on Harbor 

 Island, he found them on the marshy flats surrounding Corpus 

 Christi Bay and in the marshes of St. Joseph's Island. 



On June 17, 1909, Dr. J. M. Carroll of Brownwood, Texas, 

 made a trip to Harbor Island and found the rails breeding and 

 abundant. 



Mr. J. J. "Carroll, now of Houston, after writing his paper on the 

 birds of Refugio County, Texas, ^ noted the bird as a rare resident 

 in the tall grass and tule marshes which skirt Copano and Mission 

 Bays. No nests were found, but he felt pretty sure they nested; 

 for on several occasions eggs were brought him which could have 

 belonged to no other bird. 



Prof. H. P. Attwater of Houston, while at Rockport, Aransas 

 County, Texas, from 1891 to January 1894, noted Clapper Rails 

 as common in and about the marshes on the mainland and on the 

 small islands in that vicinity. When I questioned him about speci- 

 mens of the birds, he referred to his journal and found the follow- 

 ing note, the identification being by Captain C. E. Bendire: 

 " 1 Rail — young bird — 9 — August 8, 1893, Rockport. Rallus 



1 Carroll, James J. Notes on the Birds of Refugio Comity, Texas. Auk, Vol. 

 XVII, No. 4, Oct., 1900, pp. 337-348. 



