RALLUS LONG1ROSTRIS. 
427 
RALLUS LONGIROSTRIS. 
Clapper Rail. 
Rallus longirostris Bodd, Tab. PI. enl.; 1784. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch, Form, robust. Size, large. Tongue, long, thin, slender, and tapering gradually toward tip which isacutely 
pointed. » 
Color. Adult. Above, greenish-brown, becoming purplish on primaries, with the feathers overwashed and edged 
with ashy. Sides of head, bluish-ash. Line from bill over eye and under surface, pale ashy-red, tinged with bluish on the 
sides of neck. Sides, flanks, under wing and tail coverts, brown, banded with white. Iris, feet, and bill, brown, the 
latter, reddish-orange at base. Young. Similar to the adult but darker above and paler below. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Readily known by the large size and general ashy-blue tinting, especially below. Distributed, insummer, from Mass¬ 
achusetts, southward; wintering from the Carolinas to Key West. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 14‘00; stretch, ‘20'30; wing, 6"00; tail, 
2-50; bill, 235; tarsus, 2'25. Longest specimen, MAO; greatest extent of wing, 20 - 75; longest wing, fi'50; tail, 2 70; bill, 
2 - 50; tarsus, 2'50. Shortest specimen, 13'50; smallest extent of wing, 20 - 00; shortest wing, 5‘50; tail, 2 25; bill, 225; tarsus, 
2 - 00 . 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of grass, weeds, etc. Eggs, from eight to ten in number, oval 
in form, huffy-yellow in color, dotted and spotted irregularly, but sparcely, with reddish-brown and lilac. Dimensions from 
105xl-6il to 115x1-75. 
HABITS. 
The coasts of South Carolina and Georgia are low, and many sounds make into the 
land, which receive the contents of numerous rivers. Between these sounds, are islands, 
back of which are creeks of varying widths, in which the tide rises and falls; while between 
these bodies of water and the mainland, are extensive marshes, many miles in width. 
These level tracts are scarcely elevated above low water mark, consequently are overflowed 
by every flood tide, and during the extreme high water that occurs at the full of the moon, 
even the grass tops of all, but some of the more elevated spots, are submerged. As re¬ 
marked, these marshes are widely spread, extending from the islands to the westward, as 
far as eye can reach, and stretching from the extreme northern confines of the State of 
South Carolina, quite to Florida. Many aquatic birds find a home in this lonely reach of 
country, but by far the most abundant, at all seasons, are the Clapper Bails, and their 
harsh voices may be heard at all hours of the day and night, as they skulk through the 
grass or run along the margins of the creeks in search of food. Like all the members of 
this genus, these Rails are difficult to start, and the only way in which they can be secured 
in numbers, is to watch the occurrence of a spring tide which, overflowing nearly every¬ 
thing, forces the birds to take refuge in the few clumps of grass left uncovered, or they 
will sit upon the floating debris and quietly await the falling of the water. 
The number of these Rails which occur in this section, is simply incalculable, but it is 
safe to say that they may be counted by millions. If a gun be discharged at night-fall, 
when the birds are most active, the Rails in the immediate vicinity, will utter harsh screams 
which will be answered by others, and before the echo of the shot has died away, the 
marsh for miles around, will be resounding with their discordant cries. These Rails have 
few enemies; it is true, that minks abound in these marshes, and may, occasionally, catch 
one, and I have frequently seen the Marsh Hawks attempt to capture these birds, but nev- 
