CALIFOBNIA CLAPPER BAIL 283 



California Clapper Rail 



Rallus obsoletus Ridgway 



Other names— San Mateo Rail; "Water-hen; Marsh-hen; Salt-water Marsh- 

 hen; Mud-hen, part; King Rail; Ballus elegans; BaJlus elegans var. obsoletus. 



Description — Adults, hoth sexes: Top and sides of head blackish brown; 

 top of head with black, bristle-like feather tips; streak of cinnamon from base 

 of bill directly backwards over eye; chin and throat white, bordered along 

 sides and behind with light cinnamon, the latter blending with the duller 

 tones of color elsewhere; iris dark brown or orange brown; bill reddish orange 

 at base of lower mandible and along edge of upper, otherwise dusky olive 

 brown; rest of upper surface including rump and tail grayish olive brown, 

 streaked broadly with blackish as formed by darker centers of feathers; outer 

 surface of closed wing chiefly cinnamon brown; inner secondaries like back, 

 and rest of flight feathers dark brown; axillars and lining of wing brown, 

 barred narrowly and irregularly with white; foreneok and breast clear light 

 cinnamon, fading to pale buffy on belly; sides and flanks dark grayish brown 

 barred sharply with white; lower tail coverts like flanks, except for outer- 

 most feathers which are white; legs and feet dull orange brown, darkest at 

 joints. Measurements: — Males: Total length 15.87-16.62 inches (403-422 mm.) 

 (three specimens); folded wing 6.04-6.90 (153-175); bill along culmen 2.22- 

 2.54 (56.4^64.4); tarsus 2.17-2.42 (55.0-61.5) (ten specimens). Females: Total 

 length 15.12-15.62 (384-397) (three specimens); folded wing 5.75-6.08 (146- 

 154); bill along culmen 2.17-2.32 (55.0-58.9); tarsus 2.10-2.24 (53.3-56.8) 

 (eight specimens). Juvenile plumage: Similar to that of adult, but with streak- 

 ing on back duller, less strikingly contrasted, lower surface very much lighter, 

 more bufEy in tone, and barring on sides and flanks scarcely or not at all in 

 evidence. Natal plumage: Black with a slight greenish iridescence except on 

 belly; bill yellow; feet (dried) reddish brown. 



Marks foe field identification — Of rails in general: Narrow (compressed) 

 body, small head, slender bill, long neck and legs, short rounded wings, and 

 extremely short tail. Of California Clapper Rail: Large size (largest rail in 

 California), light cinnamon breast, and dark -toned, brown and black streaked 

 back (pi. 9 and figs. 47 and 48). Skulks through marsh vegetation and when 

 flushed rises nearly vertically several feet before flying off. Distinguished 

 from Virginia Rail by much larger size; from Light-footed Rail of southern 

 California by slightly larger size and lighter color. 



Voice — Often spoken of as a harsh cackle; a clattering, chucTc, cJiucTc, chuck, 

 chuelc, or a cheeTc-a-cheeTc-a-cheelc, etc., rapidly uttered. 



Nest — ^In salt marshes; usually of pickle- weed (Salicornia ambigua), loosely 

 laid together, and concealed in the same sort of vegetation or beneath some 

 small shrub. 



Eggs — 6 to 12, usually 8 to 9, ovate to elongate ovate in shape, measuring in 

 inches, 1.61 to 1.82 by 1.17 to 1.30 (in millimeters, 40.8 to 46.5 by 29.7 to 33.0), 

 and averaging 1.72 by 1.23 (43.7 by 31.2) (Emerson, 1885, p. 143); color light 

 creamy bufif, spotted or blotched rather scatteringly with reddish brown and 

 lavender. 



General distribution — Resident on salt marshes adjacent to San Francisco 

 and Monterey bays, California; casual elsewhere along the Pacific coast north 

 to Humboldt Bay, and even, possibly, to Gray's Harbor, Washington. 



Distribution in California — Common resident on salt marshes bordering 



