﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  273 
  

  

  cinnamon-buff, 
  often 
  shaded 
  with 
  ash; 
  sides, 
  flanks 
  and 
  axillars 
  grayish 
  

   brown 
  with 
  narrow 
  bars 
  of 
  white; 
  wings 
  and 
  tail 
  brown, 
  the 
  wing 
  coverts 
  

   pale 
  cinnamon; 
  throat, 
  eyelids 
  and 
  line 
  over 
  the 
  eye 
  white. 
  

  

  Length 
  13. 
  5-16 
  inches; 
  extent 
  20; 
  wing 
  5-6.25; 
  tail 
  2-2.5; 
  bill 
  2-2.5; 
  

   tarsus 
  1.7-2.25; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  2-2.3. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  Clapper 
  rail 
  ranges 
  along 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  seaboard 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  regularly 
  to 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  casuahy 
  to 
  Massachusetts. 
  

   It 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  summer 
  resident 
  on 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes 
  of 
  our 
  State 
  and 
  ascends 
  

   the 
  Hudson 
  accidentally 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Ossining. 
  According 
  to 
  Mr 
  Worthington 
  

   it 
  is 
  rare 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Shelter 
  Island. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  two 
  or 
  

   three 
  times 
  from 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  especially 
  from 
  Syracuse, 
  by 
  

   Mr 
  Dakin, 
  who 
  was 
  a 
  careful 
  ornithologist, 
  but, 
  in 
  default 
  of 
  the 
  specimens, 
  

   we 
  must 
  infer 
  that 
  these 
  interior 
  records 
  should 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  young 
  

   of 
  the 
  King 
  rail. 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  frequently 
  met 
  with 
  throughout 
  the 
  winter 
  

   on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  but 
  the 
  principal 
  number 
  are 
  migratory, 
  arriving 
  from 
  the 
  

   3d 
  to 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  April 
  and 
  departing 
  late 
  in 
  October. 
  

  

  The 
  Clapper 
  rail, 
  Salt-water 
  marsh 
  hen, 
  or 
  Mud 
  hen, 
  inhabits 
  the 
  

   grassy 
  salt 
  marshes 
  of 
  Long 
  Island, 
  Staten 
  Island 
  and 
  New 
  Jersey. 
  They 
  

   are 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  extensive 
  marshes 
  of 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  Long 
  Island, 
  

   but 
  uncomm.on 
  about 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  and 
  on 
  Staten 
  Island. 
  They 
  remain 
  

   -under 
  the 
  cover 
  of 
  the 
  dense 
  sedge 
  grass 
  during 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  day 
  

   or 
  when 
  danger 
  is 
  near, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  impossible 
  to 
  flush 
  them, 
  except 
  

   at 
  high 
  tide 
  when 
  the 
  marshes 
  are 
  flooded. 
  Then 
  if 
  a 
  boat 
  is 
  pushed 
  through 
  

   the 
  grass 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  driven 
  from 
  their 
  hiding 
  places. 
  In 
  this 
  manner 
  

   they 
  are 
  shot 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  but 
  their 
  flesh 
  is 
  much 
  inferior 
  to 
  that 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  Sora. 
  

  

  Clapper 
  rails 
  are 
  noisy 
  birds 
  as 
  both 
  their 
  scientific 
  names 
  and 
  their 
  

   ■common 
  names 
  would 
  indicate. 
  Their 
  nest 
  is 
  concealed 
  in 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes 
  

   and 
  consists 
  of 
  a 
  pile 
  of 
  dead 
  rushes 
  and 
  grasses. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  from 
  7 
  

   to 
  12 
  in 
  number 
  of 
  a 
  buffy 
  or 
  clay-white 
  color, 
  rather 
  sparingly 
  spotted 
  

   with 
  reddish 
  brown 
  and 
  obscure 
  purplish. 
  The 
  dimensions 
  average 
  1.72 
  x 
  

   1.20 
  inches. 
  

  

  