THE CLAPPER RAIL. 
167 
distance, and remained crouched among- the grass until you have retired. 
When, on returning, the poor bird finds that her treasure has been stolen, 
she immediately proclaims her grief aloud, and in this is joined by her 
faithful mate. In a few days, however, more eggs are deposited, although, I 
believe, never in the same nest. This species may be called gregarious, yet 
the nests are seldom nearer to each other than five or ten yards. They are 
placed in the thickest and most elevated tufts of grass, principally near the 
edges of the many lagoons that everywhere intersect the sea marshes, so 
that a man may go from one to another, finding them with ease as he pro- 
ceeds along the muddy shores. In the Jerseys, it forms almost a regular 
occupation to collect the eggs of this bird, and there I have seen twenty or 
more persons gathering them by thousands during the season ; in fact, it is 
not an uncommon occurrence for an egger to carry home a hundred dozens 
in a day; and when this havoc is continued upwards of a month, you may 
imagine its extent. The abundance of the birds themselves is almost be- 
yond belief; but if you suppose a series of salt-marshes twenty miles in 
length, and a mile in breadth, while at every eight or ten steps one or two 
birds may be met with, you may calculate their probable number. 
During ebb, the Clapper Rail advances towards the edge of the waters as 
they recede, and searches, either among the grasses, or along the deep fur- 
rows made by the ebb and flow of the tides, for its food, which consists prin- 
cipally of small crabs, a species of salt-water snail attached to the rushes, the 
fry of fishes, aquatic insects, and plants. When the tide flows, they gradual- 
ly return, and at high-water they resort to the banks, where they remain con- 
cealed until the waters begin to retreat. This species is by no means exclu- 
sively nocturnal, for it moves about in search of food during the whole of the 
day, in this respect resembling the G-allinules. Their courage is now and 
then brought to the test by the sudden approach of some of their winged 
enemies, such as a Hawk or an Owl, especially the Marsh Hawk, which is 
often attacked by them while sailing low over the grass in which they are 
commonly concealed. On such occasions, the Rail rises a few yards in the 
air, strikes at the marauder with bill and claws, screaming aloud all the 
while, and dives again among the grass, to the astonishment of the bird of 
prey, which usually moves off at full speed. They are not so fortunate in 
their encounters with such Hawks as pounce from on high on their prey, 
such as the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, against which they 
have no chance of defending themselves. Minks, racoons, and wild cats 
destroy a great number of them during night, and many are devoured by 
turtles and ravenous fishes ; but their worst enemy is man. My friend 
Bachman has shot so many as sixty in the course of four hours, and others 
have killed double that number in double the time. 
