° 1914 J Simmons, The Louisiana Clapper Rail. 383 



animals there to disturb them. Both Mr. Farley and Mr. Prior 

 commented on the large number killed by hunters and dogs, and 

 stated that some of the negroes consider the birds quite a palatable 

 delicacy and gather numbers for the pot. 



The Harbor Island Rails face extinction at this very time. A 

 railroad has been built to the island from the mainland and improve- 

 ments are being made. In addition to this the birds have been 

 almost wiped out by collecting. 



Probably the greatest factor the Rails have to contend with in 

 their fight for existence is the flooding of the marshes, both from 

 high tide and from heavy rains. At such times the birds are 

 much exposed and bewildered and many drown. In the seaside 

 marshes they build their nests on the banks of the sloughs or 

 bayous instead of the higher parts of the marsh, and in rainy spells 

 numbers of nests are destroyed. 



They are naturally very delicate birds and sensitive to the cold 

 of the more severe winters; many freeze to death where they are 

 unable to secure shelter. 



During November and December 1913 Texas was visited by one 

 of the most destructive floods of its history, two of the largest 

 rivers of the state rising and overflowing miles and miles of the 

 lowlands towards the coast. During that time numbers of the 

 Rails left the marshes and took to higher ground until the waters 

 receded. One of these birds was caught in a bewildered condi- 

 tion in Mr. Farley's yard in Port Aransas in October. 



XI. Winter. 



Most of the winter habits of the birds have been given in the 

 two preceding divisions of this paper. 



In the colder weather they haunt drifts of logs or trash in the 

 marshes, where they take shelter from the cold north wind and 

 from rains. But as the thermometer rarely falls below freezing 

 in this semitropical coast country, the birds are rarely forced to 

 seek shelter, and their actions and habits then are not noticeably 

 different from other times of the year. 



In winter in the marshes on Bolivar Peninsula Mr. Pope says 



