CLAPPER RAIL, OR MUD-HEN. 223 



shore, and the large rivers of the Atlantic States. Thej are 

 always abundant in New Jersey and Delaware, and sometimes 

 quite numerous in the brackish fens of Long Island. The 

 Mud-Hen is a migratory Bird, and arrives from the South on 

 the coast of New Jersey and the neighboring States about the 

 middle of April. Though coming unobserved in the stillness of 

 the night, they soon make their presence known to the inhabi- 

 tants of those districts by the sound of their harsh and never- 

 ceasing cackle^ somewhat resembling the well-known tremulous 

 cry of the Guinea Fowl. Although the marshes and sedgy mea- 

 dows, in the course of a very few days after their first appearance, 

 resound on all sides with the unmelodious notes of these skulk- 

 ing Birds, few or none of them are to be seen, as they seldom 

 take wing, and when pursued run with amazing rapidity through 

 the tangled weeds and high grass that always grow so luxuri- 

 antly in the haunts that they affect. In our youthful days we 

 have had many a race after a wounded Clapper, and know full 

 well that our powers of speed and endurance were often most 

 fruitlessly taxed in the doubtful chase. 



The Mud Hen commences laying towards the close of May ; 

 the nest is simple, but often artfully contrived for concealment, 

 having the long grass twisted and plaited over it, in the form of 

 an arch, so as effectually to obstruct the glance of an inexpe- 

 rienced observer. Eight or ten eggs are usually found in their 

 nests; we have seen as many as fifteen. Their eggs are eagerly 

 sought after by the residents of those parts, who, in fact, con- 

 sider them far superior in delicacy to those of the domestic Hen. 

 The wholesale robbery of their nests is not the only interruption 

 that the Clapper Eail meets with during the period of incuba- 



