Cm a Collection of Eggs from 
Georgia, JEr. B. Bailey. 
95. Rallus longirostris crepitans. Clapper Rail. — Nests in salt 
marshes ; eggs ten to twelve. April 18. 
Bull. N. 0.C* 8, Jan, 1883. p.43 
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Close by my house is a bed of rushes in which 
ja Clap per Rail builds every year. The first 
time I found the nest it contained only one egg, 
and did not seem wide enough to hold more 
than one more. It was in plain sight from my 
“skinning” window, so I placed my spy glass 
in a rest and lost much valuable time in watch- 
ing tlie movements of the old marsh-hen and 
her mate. As each new egg was laid they 
added fresh material to the outside, until the 
nest was at last amply sufficient to contain the 
full set of eight. The deft way in which they 
interwove their building material was really a 
beautiful sight. The male dragged one long, 
trailing reed from a rice pond fully a hundred 
yards distant, and stitched it through and 
through the whole outside. 1 took it out after 
the young were hatched and found it to meas- 
ure four feet and a half in length. 
O.&o. XII, Nov. 1387 p, m 
The Clapper Rails build in the high grass j 
along the creeks on south side of the island. I 
The surrounding meadows are so frequently ' 
overflowed that progression and search for their 
nests is extremely laborious on account of the 
yielding nature of the black muddy soil. The 
grass is always somewhat twisted about di- 
rectly over their nests and this is how the 11a- 
tives find their eggs, which are highly esteemed 
as an article of diet. It is surprising to one who, 
after having tramped over the salt meadows 
all day without having seen a single Rail, will 
go after sundown to some outlying secluded 
nests being found, so far as I am aware, only 
by watching, the birds. 
) K . f~t * A ■ ^ • 
19 UP- X7y . W-- j>- 3 
Notes-Cobb’e IsldVa& vtcfenityWayl^t)|i 
Wm.H. Fisher, Baltimore, Md. 
2 1 1 . Clapper Rail. —Very abundant on all 
the marshes, although seldom seen. 
I only saw one, it being flushed on 
the edge of a “ gut,” where it had 
no place to sulk away in the grass. 
Many nests were found, all at Cobb’s 
Island. Most of them were built 
about six to ten inches from the 
ground, and some had drift grass . 
drawn over the top to hide them. 
All had fresh eggs, the largest set 
being nine and the smallest five. 
/O 0 
0.& O.Vol.18, Mar. 1893 P.41 
