KING RAIL (Rallus elegans}. These are 

 the largest of the true rails, measuring about 

 18 in. in length. They are much brighter 

 colored both above and below than the sim- 

 ilar sized Clapper Rails. They inhabit al- 

 most exclusively fresh-water marshes in 

 eastern North America, breeding throughout 

 the eastern states and wintering in the south- 

 ern ones. Their form is typical of that of 

 the rail family: long bill, long legs and short 

 tail, the latter often carried erect over the 

 back. They are very sly and secretive in 

 all their habits, keeping well under cover of 

 rushes or marsh grass, and doing most of their 

 feeding after dark. It is very difficult to 

 flush them, particularly without a dog. 

 Their flight is very weak and fluttering; they 

 fly but a few yards before dropping into 

 the protecting grass again. On the ground, 

 however, they are very active and quite 

 graceful, running swiftly and threading their 

 way with ease through the densest of weeds, 

 rushes or brush. At night the marshes often 

 resound with their loud, explosive, grunting 

 calls. 



Their food consists of aquatic insects, 

 seeds, roots and grasses, which impart a deli- 

 cate flavor to their flesh and puts them in 

 the game-bird class, although the sport of 

 shooting them is confined largely to one's 

 ability to make them fly, for once awing 

 they are so easy a mark that even a novice can seldom miss one. 



CLAPPER RAILS (Rallus crepitans crepitans), of the same size but paler 

 colored than the last species, are confined almost wholly to salt or brackish 

 marshes near the coast, breeding north to Massachusetts and wintering on 

 the South Atlantic coast. Several local varieties are recognized: the Louisi- 

 ana Clapper Rail on the coast of that state, the Florida Clapper Rail on the 

 Gulf coast of Florida and the Wayne Clapper Rail on the coast from North 

 Carolina to Florida. These differ but slightly in coloring or dimensions. 



CALIFORNIA CLAPPER RAIL (Rallus obsoletus), found in salt marshes 

 of the Pacific coast near San Francisco, is marked like the Clapper Rail 

 above and is as brightly colored as the King Rail below. 



KING RAIL 

 CLAPPER RAIL 



26 



