CLAPPER RAIL. 35 



of the many lagoons that everywhere intersect the sea marshes, so that a 

 man may go from one to another, finding them with ease as he proceeds 

 along the muddy shores. In the Jerseys, it forms almost a regular occu- 

 pation to collect the eggs of this bird, and there I have seen twenty or 

 more persons gathering them by thousands during the season ; in fact, it 

 is not an uncommon occurrence for an egger to carry home a hundred 

 dozens in a day ; and when this havock is continued upwards of a month, 

 you may imagine its extent. The abundance of the birds themselves is 

 almost beyond belief; but if you suppose a series of salt marshes twenty 

 miles in length, and a mile in breadth, while at every eight or ten steps 

 one or two birds may be met with, you may calculate their probable 

 number. 



During ebb, the Clapper Rail advances towards the edge of the wa- 

 ters as they recede, and searches, either among the grasses, or along the 

 deep furrows made by the ebb and flow of the tides, for its food, which 

 consists principally of small crabs, a species of salt-water snail attached 

 to the rushes, the fry of fishes, aquatic insects, and plants. When the 

 tide flows, they gradually return, and at high-water they resort to the 

 banks, where they remain concealed until the waters begin to retreat. 

 This species is by no means exclusively nocturnal, for it moves about in 

 search of food during the whole of the day, in this respect resembling the 

 Gallinules. Their courage is now and then brought to the test by the 

 sudden approach of some of their winged enemies, such as a Hawk or an 

 Owl, especially the Marsh Hawk, which is often attacked by them while 

 sailing low over the grass in which they are commonly concealed. On 

 such occasions, the Rail rises a few yards in the air, strikes at the ma^ 

 rauder with bill and claws, screaming aloud all the while, and dives again 

 among the grass, to the astonishment of the bird of prey, which usually 

 moves off^ at full speed. They are not so fortunate in their encounters 

 with such hawks as pounce from on high on their prey, such as the Red- 

 tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, against which they have no chance of 

 defending themselves. Minxes, racoons, and wild cats destroy a great 

 number of them during night, and many are devoured by turtles and ra- 

 venous fishes ; but their worst enemy is man. My friend Baohman has 

 shot so many as sixty in the course of four hours, and others have killed 

 double that number in double the time. 



The Salt-water Marsh Hen swims with considerable ease, though not 

 swiftly or gracefully. While in this act, it extends its neck forward, and 



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