Rails SHORE AND MARSH BIRDS. 



Season: Common summer resident from Connecticut southward. 



May winter. 



Breeds : In dense marshes, most abundantly in the Carolinas. 

 Nest : A collection of grasses and reeds ; on the ground, barely out of 



the reach of water. 



Eggs : Numerous, 6-12, cream- white, speckled with reddish brown. 

 Mange : Salt-marshes of the Atlantic coast of the United States, from 



New Jersey southward ; resident from the Potomac southward, 



casually north to Massachusetts. 



The Clapper Eail is one of the noisiest of most obstrep- 

 erous of Shore-birds. It straggles to the Massachusetts 

 coast in summer, and is at times quite plentiful, but irregu- 

 larly so. This is the species that is killed in great numbers 

 among the salt-marshes in the neighbourhood of Atlantic 

 City, N. J. It takes its name longirostris, long bill, and 

 crepitans, crepitating, clattering from the extra length 

 of its bill and the incessant noise that it makes, especially 

 in the breeding-season. These Eails have a most ludicrous 

 gait, tipping forward as they run. 



Virginia Rail: Rallus virginianus. 



PLATE XII. FIG. 2. 



Length : variable, 8.50-10.50 inches. 



Male and Female : General tone streaky and reddish. Above dark 

 brown plainly streaked with olive, a white line from the bill 

 extending over the eye. Throat ivhite. Below bright reddish ; 

 wings dark brown ; coverts chestnut ; tail dark brown barred 

 with white. 



Season : A common summer resident, breeding on the salt-marshes. 

 Sometimes winters. 



Breeds: Northward from Pennsylvania. 



Nest: A slight mat of grasses in a clump of reeds near water, 

 usually in an inaccessible place. 



Eggs : 6-8, resembling those of the last species. 



Range : North America, from the British Provinces south to Guate- 

 mala. 



A very pretty species, having a general ruddy tint and 

 being abundant both in fresh and salt marshes. It is 



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