56 THE BIRDS 
being broken up the first time, and about one hundred 
feet the second time, the third laying being allowed to 
hatch. The young were jet black, and all remained in 
the near vicinity until the fall high tides, when they 
migrated with the other rail, principally Virginia and 
Sora. These fall tides oceur about September 15th to 
October 10th, during which times many King Rail, as 
well as other species, are killed further up the rivers. The 
egos have a glossy rich cream ground color, blotched and 
specked with reddish-brown, with fainter markings of 
lilac. Size, 1.60x1.20. Fresh eggs, May 20th to June Ist. 
Only one brood a season. Their food consists of insects, 
seed, and various forms of marine life gathered from the 
edges of the ponds and streams. 
[211]. Rallus crepitans crepitans (Gmelin). 
Clapper Rail. 
[Mud Hen. Sage Hen]. 
Raner.—Salt marshes of the Atlantic Coast. Breeds 
from Connecticut to North Carolina; winters mainly 
south of New Jersey; casual north to Maine. 
This is the largest of the rails breeding with us, and 
during mild winters many remain through the year. As 
spring approaches they become more fearless and inhabit 
small marshy places often within a hundred feet of 
inhabited buildings, from which they utter their harsh 
“ohak, ghak,” making their presence readily known. 
During the breeding season numerous pairs of these birds 
are scattered over every salt marsh, and during early 
morning and late evening hours, their long harsh cries, 
