230 BIRDS OF THE MOOR. 



ing. It is so seldom seen on account of its habit of con- 

 cealment during the day and of feeding at evening and 

 morning twilight, that many persons have never met with 

 it. It is in fact quite a common bird, and breeds in the 

 thickets in the immediate vicinity of our rivers and ponds. 

 I have seen numbers of this species in the meadows sur- 

 rounding Fresh Pond in Cambridge when hunting for 

 aquatic plants and flowers ; but I have not discovered 

 their nests. Samuels says the eggs, which are from six 

 to ten in number, are of a deep buff color, and that their 

 nest "is nothing but a pile of weeds or grass which it 

 arranges in a compact manner, and hollows to the depth 

 perhaps of an inch or an inch and a half." 



This is a very pretty species. The upper parts are 

 brown, striped with deeper shades of the same color; 

 the feathers on the breast are of a bright brown deep- 

 ening into red ; the wings black and chestnut with some 

 white lines. It resembles somewhat a miniature hen with 

 long legs and short tail, and is very nimble in its move- 

 ments. This species is most commonly found in those 

 fresh meadows into which the salt water extends or those 

 salt marshes which are pervaded by a stream of fresh 

 water. They feed more on worms and insects than upon 

 seeds and grain, though they do not refuse a granivorous 

 diet. 



THE CLAPPER RAIL. 



I have so seldom seen the Clapper Rail, though I have 

 many times heard its clattering notes, that I have nothing 

 to say of it from my own observation. But as it is not 

 unfrequent on the New England coast, it seems a fit sub- 

 ject to be introduced in my descriptions of picturesque 

 birds. I shall, therefore, in this case deviate from my 

 general practice of writing from my own experience, 

 and insert in this place a brief abstract of an essay on 



