﻿272 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Bayport, 
  L. 
  I.; 
  late 
  November, 
  about 
  1894, 
  a 
  specimen 
  taken 
  by 
  Foster 
  

   Parker 
  on 
  the 
  Cayuga 
  marshes; 
  December 
  3, 
  1897, 
  James 
  Savage 
  took 
  

   one 
  at 
  South 
  Buffalo; 
  Dr 
  H. 
  D. 
  Reed 
  reports 
  a 
  specimen 
  taken 
  at 
  Ithaca, 
  

   November 
  27th, 
  1901. 
  These 
  records, 
  when 
  considered 
  with 
  the 
  New 
  

   England 
  records 
  of 
  December 
  14, 
  January 
  20, 
  and 
  February, 
  seem 
  to 
  indicate 
  

   that 
  the 
  species 
  ma)' 
  almost 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  permanent 
  resident 
  at 
  the 
  

   northern 
  limit 
  of 
  its 
  range. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  fairly 
  common 
  summer 
  resident 
  on 
  the 
  

   Cayuga 
  marshes 
  according 
  to 
  Mr 
  Foster 
  Parker 
  who 
  is 
  well 
  acquainted 
  with 
  

   it, 
  but 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  extreme 
  shyness 
  it 
  is 
  rarely 
  seen. 
  Mr 
  Dutcher 
  

   records 
  a 
  summer 
  specimen 
  from 
  Shinnecock 
  bay, 
  L. 
  I., 
  but 
  the 
  exact 
  date 
  

   is 
  unknown. 
  Mr 
  Reinecke 
  found 
  a 
  nest 
  and 
  10 
  eggs 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  at 
  

   Point 
  Abino, 
  Ontario, 
  near 
  Buffalo, 
  on 
  May 
  30, 
  1894. 
  He 
  also 
  skinned 
  

   and 
  dissected 
  a 
  specimen 
  containing 
  a 
  fully 
  developed 
  egg, 
  which 
  was 
  shot 
  

   by 
  George 
  E. 
  Harris 
  in 
  South 
  Buffalo, 
  May 
  23d, 
  189 
  1. 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know 
  no 
  one 
  has 
  seen 
  the 
  King 
  rail 
  in 
  the 
  act 
  of 
  uttering 
  its 
  

   note. 
  Mr 
  Brewster 
  describes 
  it 
  as 
  deep 
  and 
  guttural, 
  sometimes 
  harsh 
  

   and 
  vibrant, 
  "a 
  grunting 
  uniph, 
  umph, 
  umph, 
  timph, 
  the 
  notes 
  being 
  on 
  the 
  

   same 
  ke}' 
  and 
  separated 
  by 
  rather 
  wide 
  but 
  approximately 
  regular 
  intervals." 
  

   Chapman 
  describes 
  its 
  supposed 
  call 
  as 
  "a 
  loud 
  startling 
  hup, 
  hup, 
  hup, 
  

   bup, 
  hup, 
  uttered 
  with 
  increasing 
  rapidity 
  until 
  the 
  syllables 
  were 
  barely 
  

   distinguishable 
  and 
  ending 
  somewhat 
  as 
  it 
  began, 
  the 
  whole 
  performance 
  

   occupying 
  about 
  five 
  seconds." 
  

  

  Rallus 
  crepitans 
  Gmelin 
  

   Clapper 
  Rail 
  

  

  Plate 
  25 
  

  

  Rallus 
  crepitans 
  Gmelin. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  1788. 
  Ed. 
  i. 
  2:713 
  

  

  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  259, 
  fig. 
  222 
  

   A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  211 
  

  

  cri'pitans, 
  Lat., 
  clattering 
  

  

  Description. 
  Upper 
  parts 
  ashy 
  gray, 
  shading 
  to 
  oHve-brown 
  in 
  the 
  

   center 
  of 
  the 
  feathers; 
  neck 
  and 
  breast 
  varying 
  from 
  cream 
  v 
  buff 
  to 
  pale 
  

  

  