WADING BIRDS 



RAILS, GALLINULES and COOTS. Family RALLID^ 



Members of this family are almost exclusively frequenters of marshes, 

 where they lead a shy, retiring life and are more often heard than seen. 



208. King Rail. Rallus ele<rans. 



"Vy^ 



Range. — Fresh water marshes of eastern United States from New England 

 and the Dakotas, southward. Very abundant on the Soutli Atlantic coast, in 

 the inland marshes. 



This is one of the largest of the Rails, (17 



inches in length) and may be known by the 



richness of its plumage, the breast and wing 



coverts being a rich cinnamon color. It is 



almost exclusively a fresh water species and is 



very rarely found around a salt water marsh. 



Its nest is built on the ground, in a tuft of grass 



and weeds woven about the upright stalks. 



They lay from five to twelve eggs having a 



cream colored ground, sparingly speckled with 



brown and lilac. Size 1.60 x 1,20. Data. -Clark 



County, Missouri, June 6, 189.3. 10 eggs. Nest 



composed of reed stalks; a slightly concave mass 8 inches across, and only 



two inches above the water, in a clump of reeds. Collector, Ed. S. Currier. 



Cream color. 



209. Beluing's Rail. Rallux JtpJdingi. 



Range. — Lower California and the islands in the Gulf. 



This is a locally confined species, very similar to the preceding but darker 

 and with the flank bars narrower. Its nesting or eggs will not differ from those 

 of the King Rail. 



ilO. Californi.v Clappeh Rail. Rallus ohsoletus. 



Range. — Salt marshes of the 



Light buff. 



Pacific coast of the United States. 



This species is like a dull colored King Rail, 

 with reference to the markings of the back, or 

 a bright colored Clapper Rail, as it has a cinna- 

 mon colored breast. It is an abundant species 

 in nearly all the salt marshes along the coast. 

 They make their nests oii-the higher parts of 

 the marsh, v.'hcre it is comparatively dry, build- 

 ing them of grass and strips of rushes. They 

 lay from four to nine eggs of a light buff color, 

 boldly spotted with brown, and with fainter 

 markings of lilac. Size 1.75 x 1.25. Data. — 

 Palo Alto, Cal., May 1, 1899. Nest of marsh 

 grass under a small bush on bank of slough. 

 Collector, Ernest Adams. 



131 



