OF VIRGINIA 57 
ore answering the other, so it seems, keep the marsh 
vibrating with sound, As they run so rapidly from place 
to place, one is led to believe there are many more birds 
in the marsh than there really are. On the islands off the 
coast they are very numerous, and their method of nest 
building is entirely different from that on the mainland 
west of the Chesapeake Bay. The spring equinoctial 
storm leaves large masses of drift, such as seaweed, dry 
marsh grass, and trash of every description, along the 
inland shore of the coastal islands, supported above the 
ground about eight inches by the thicker stems of marsh 
grasses. Under these masses of trash the Clapper Rails 
build their nests, the trash above forming the canopy for 
which the birds are so noted. The nests in the marshes 
on the mainland are chiefly placed in some thick bunch of 
marsh grass or flags, and attached thereto, from six to ten 
inches above the marsh and canopied over with the sur- 
rounding vegetation. During the late fall and early 
spring, numbers of these birds are caught in the steel traps 
set for mammals in and along the creeks and water 
courses. The eggs number from eight to thirteen, the 
ground color a rich glossy buff, specked and blotched with 
different shades of reddish-brown, and fainter markings 
of lavender or gray. Fresh eggs April 27th to June 1st. 
Size, 1.70x1.20. The nest is composed of dry marsh 
grasses and stems, a well built platform, slightly hollowed. 
Numbers of these birds with the Virginia, Black, and 
Sora Rails, are shot during the Sora tides, the latter part 
of September each year. The young are jet black when 
hatched and leave the nest to follow the parent as soon as 
dry. Two settings are laid by many birds. Second sets 
of fresh egos July Ist. Seeds and marine insect matter 
form the greater part of their food. 
