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Clapper Rail ( Rallus crepitans ). — I am still further indebted 
to Mr. Clark for a finely mounted specimen of the Clapper Rail 
which has an interesting history. It was taken November 30, 
1895, at East Orleans, Massachusetts, by Mr. John Greenough 
Rodgers who started it on the edge of a marsh during a snow 
storm. It flew a short distance and plunged into a snow bank. 
Mr. Rodgers, seeing the hole by which it had entered, thrust in 
his hand and pulled it out. He sent it to a Mr. Seaver who kept 
it alive for a day or two. It ate at first but finally refused all food 
and died, when Mr. Seaver took it to Mr. Clark who found it much 
emaciated. It is a male, quite typical of the form crepitans, and in 
fresh and remarkably perfect autumn plumage. 
Auk, XVIII, April., 1901 , p\ 136 . 
The Clapper Rail in Essex County, Mass. — On September 15, 1908, 
I picked up on the beach at Plum Island, Mass., near the mouth of the 
Ipswich River, a dead Clapper Rail. After fully satisfying myself as to 
the identity of the bird, I took it to the Abbott Frazar Co., taxidermists, 
in Boston, to be mounted. I have since been informed by them that no 
indications were found of the bird’s having been shot; and, taking into 
consideration the fact that water ran freely from the bird’s mouth when 
picked up by the legs, I imagine that it probably died in the water. The 
body did not appear to be decomposed to any extent, and the taxidermist’s 
foreman informed me that the bird had probably not been dead over three 
days. Taking into consideration the direction of winds, etc., during that 
period, it seems very unlikely that the rail could have drifted from further 
south. I have written a full statement of the facts to Mr. John Robinson, 
of the Peabody Museum at Salem, Mass., and Mr. Edward S. Morse, the 
curator; they both agreed that the bird should be regarded as an Essex 
County record. According to Mr. Townsend’s ‘Birds of Essex County,’ 
and Howe and Allen’s ‘Birds of Massachusetts,’ this is the first authentic 
record of the occurrence of the Clapper Rail in Essex County, though both 
cite: “Mr. J. F. Le Baron informed me that he shot a specimen some years 
ago at Ipswich.” C. J. Maynard, the Naturalist’s Guide, p. 145, 1870. 
The mounted bird will be presented to the Peabody Museum, Salem. — 
William P. Whakton, Groton, Mass. 
^ 20, Jan -190©, p» y6~77. 
Ty° Unusual Mass achusetts Records.— On October 20, 1910, Mr. 
• C. Wilson, of Ipswich, brought me a young male Clapper Rail (Rallus 
crepitans crepitans). It was shot in the salt marshes of that town near 
the Poor Farm, and was a young bird of this season. This seems to be 
the second authentic Massachusetts record. 
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