THE CLAPPER RAIL. 



{Rallus longirostris crepitans.') 



THIS bird, sometimes called the 

 salt-water marsh hen, is found 

 in great abundance in the salt 

 marshes of the Atlantic coast 

 from New Jersey southward. It breeds 

 in profusion in the marshes from the 

 Carolinas to Florida, and has lately 

 been found breeding on the coast of 

 Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico, Dr. 

 A. K. Fisher having taken an old bird 

 and two young at Grand Isle in 1886. 

 The clapper rail arrives on the south- 

 eastern coast of New Jersey about the 

 last of April, its presence being made 

 known by harsh cries at early dawn 

 and at sunset. Nest-building is com.- 

 menced in the latter part of May, and 

 by the first of June the full comple- 

 ment of eggs is laid, ranging, says 

 Davie, from six to nine or ten in num- 

 ber, thirteen being the probable limit. 

 Farther south the bird is known to lay 

 as many as fifteen. On Cobb's Island, 

 Virginia, the clapper breeds in great 

 numbers, carefully concealing the nest 

 in high grass. The color of the eggs 

 is pale buffy-yellow, dotted and spotted 

 with reddish-brown and pale lilac, with 

 an average size of 1.72x1.20, but there 

 is a great variation in this respect in a 

 large series 



At the nesting-season the rails are 

 the noisiest of birds; their long, rolling 

 cry is taken up and repeated by each 

 member of the community. The thin 

 bodies of the birds often measure no 

 more than an inch and aquarter through 

 the breast. " As thin as a rail " is a 

 well-founded illustrative expression. 



" To get a good look at these birds 

 in their grassy retreats," says Neltje 

 Blanchan, " is no easy matter. Row a 

 scow over the submerged grass at 

 high-tide as far as it will go, listen to 

 the skulking clatterers, and, if near by, 

 plunge from the bow into the muddy 

 meadow, and you may have the good 

 fortune to flush a bird or two that rises 

 fluttering just above the sedges, flies a 

 few yards, trailing its legs behind it, 

 and drops into the grasses again be- 

 fore you can press the button of your 

 camera. A rarer sight still is to see a 

 clapper rail running, with head tilted 

 downward and tail upward, in a ludi- 

 crous gait, threading in and out of the 

 grassy maze." 



The rail can swim fairly well, but not 

 fast. Its wings are short, but useful, 

 and it is so swift-footed that dogs 

 chase it in vain. 



THE SWINGING LAMPS OF DAWN. 



REV. CHARLES COKE WOODS. 



Anear the threshold of my home 



A wily foe had strayed, 

 And on a rose-tree in the loam 



A wondrous thing he made; 

 Beneath the cover of the night 



He built a silken gin, 

 And at the break of morning light 



Bade all the homeless in. 



Each shining cord was made with skill, 



And woven with such grace, 

 "That none would dream he meant to 

 kill. 



In such a royal place; 

 The beauty of that bright bazar 



No one could ever fear. 

 Its mirrors caught the morning star. 



That glistened crystal-clear. 



Its swinging lamps were globes of dew. 



Enkindled by the dawn. 

 And when the morning breezes blew 



Across the velvet lawn. 

 The shining lamps swung to and fro. 



Enravishing the eye, 

 Till garbed in light-robes, all aglow, 



Was every flower and fly. 



But when the lights began to wane. 



As sea-tides slowly ebb, 

 I heard the minor notes of pain 



Issuing from a web; 

 And as my cautious feet drew nigh, 



I heard the dying song 

 Of one deluded, wayward fly 



That watched the lamps too long. 



62 



