C. II. Merriam Birds of Connecticut. 115 



those times, were used to shoot them with arrows headed with stone ; 

 for Theodat,* my authority, made his remarks in that country in the 

 beginning of the last century."f 



Family, RALLID^E. 



220. Rallus longirostris Boddert. Clapper Rail. 



Not common. Taken at Stratford by Linsley, who remarks that 

 it " breeds abundantly" there. \ Frequents salt marshes. Recently 

 recorded from Massachusetts by Mr. Purdie. " The bird was cap- 

 tured by its Hying on board a vessel in the [Boston] harbor, May 4, 

 1875." 



Several well authenticated instances of its occurrence in Connec- 

 ticut have recently come to my notice. 



221. RallllS elegans Audubon. King Rail. 



Rather rare. Found breeding at Stratford, by Linsley. J Frequents 

 fresh-water marshes. Mr. W. W. Coe has taken it at Portland, 

 Conn. Mr. J. N. Clark of Saybrook, Conn., has a fine specimen in 

 his cabinet taken there in mid-winter (Jan. 14, 1876). 



222. Rallus VirginiariUS Linne. Virginia Rail. 



A common summer resident, breeding plentifully in both salt and 

 fresh-water marshes. They are quite abundant in the brackish-water 

 marshes bordering the Quinnipiac River, and here my friend, Mr. 

 Dayan, found a nest containing seven fresh eggs and secured the old 

 bird, on June 7th, 1876. Concerning the nocturnal proclivities, and 

 shrill, startling cry of the Rail, Dr. Coues thus graphically writes : 

 " At nightfall some Mallard and Teal settled into the rushes, gabb- 

 ling curious vespers as they went to rest. A few Marsh Wrens had 

 appeared on the edge of the reeds, queerly balancing themselves on 

 the thread-like leaves, sea-sawing to their own quaint music. Then 

 they were hushed, and as darkness settled down, the dull, heavy 

 croaking of the frogs played bass to the shrill falsetto of the insects. 

 Suddenly they too were hushed in turn, frightened, may be, into 

 silence ; and from the heart of the bullrushes, ' crik-crik-rik-k-k-kj 



* As quoted by De Buffon. f Arctic Zoology, vol. ii, p. 443. 1785. 



\ Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 267, 1843. 



Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. ii, No. 1, p. 22, January, 1877. 



