CLAPPER RAIL. I 83 



with the short tail erect and frequently jerked. It is never 

 seen to perch on trees or shrubs, and is most of the time 

 on its feet. Its flesh is scarcely inferior to that of the Com- 

 mon Rail, but its scarcity and diminutive size relieve it from 

 much attention as game. Late in autumn, a little time previ- 

 ous to their departure, these birds occasionally wander out 

 into the neighboring salt-marshes, situated at a distance from 

 the sea, — a route by which in all probability they proceed in 

 a solitary and desultory manner towards the milder regions of 

 the South. At this time also they often roost among the reeds, 

 by ponds, in company with the diiferent kinds of Blackbirds, 

 clinging, no doubt, to the fallen stalks on which they pass the 

 night over the water. They swim and dive also with ease and 

 elegance ; but like their whole tribe of Long-Footed Birds, 

 they are swiftest on land, and when pushed depend upon their 

 celerity over the covered marsh as a final resort. 



This Rail is a common summer visitor to the Maritime Provinces 

 and westward to Manitoba, but rarely ranges north of the fiftieth 

 parallel. Its breeding area extends southward to Long Island and 

 Pennsylvania. 



CLAPPER RAIL. 



salt-water meadow hen. mud hen. big rail. 



Rallus crepitans. 



Char. Above, ashy gray striped with brown and tinged with olive; 

 wings and tail brown ; below, pale buff, flanks darker and barred with 

 white ; breast shaded with ash ; throat white. General coloration gray 

 without rufous tint. Bill long, slender, and decurved. Length 13^4 to 

 15}^ inches. 



Nest. Artfully concealed amid the rank grass of a salt-marsh, — a 

 loosely arranged cushion of dry rushes and grass. 



Eggs. 6-13 (usually about 9) ; pale buff, marked with reddish brown 

 and lavender; size extremely variable, average about 1.70 X 1.20. 



The Clapper Rail is a numerous and well-known species in 

 all the Middle and Southern States, but is unknown in this 

 part of New England, or in any direction farther to the north, 

 being unnoticed by Richardson in his " Northern Zoology." 



