Male, 19, 25. Female, 18, 24.
From Texas to New Jersey, more common from Louisiana to North Carolina. Inland swamps and marshes. Once met with in Kentucky.
Great Red-breasted Rail, Rallus elegans, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 27.
312. 2. Rallus crepitans, Gmel. Clapper Rail.—Salt-water Marsh-hen.
Plate CCIV. Male and Female.
Upper part of head and hind neck olivaceous brown; a brownish-orange line from the bill to the eye; lower eyelid white; loral space, cheeks, and part of the sides of the neck bluish-grey; upper parts of the body streaked with greenish-olive and light grey, the two sides of each feather being of the latter colour; wing-coverts dull olive, tinged with grey, some of them with slight irregular whitish markings; primaries olive-brown, secondaries and tail-feathers like the back; upper part of throat yellowish-white, edged on either side with pale yellowish-brown; sides and fore part of neck bluish-grey, tinged with pale yellowish-brown; the fore part of the breast of the latter colour; lower wing-coverts, sides, hind part of abdomen, and middle lower tail-coverts undulated with deep greyish-brown and greyish-white; lateral tail-coverts with the outer webs white; tibial feathers similarly barred, but paler; middle of abdomen greyish-white; iris pale yellow. Female with the tints duller.
Male, 15, 203/4. Female, 14, 191/4.
Exceedingly abundant from Texas to New Jersey, breeding in all salt-water marshes. Few proceed eastward beyond Long Island. Constantly resident from the Carolinas southward. Not inland.
Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 112; but not the figure, which is that of R. elegans.
Clapper Rail, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 201.
Clapper Rail or Salt-water Marsh-Hen, Rallus crepitans, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 33; v. v. p. 570.
313. 3. Rallus Virginianus, Linn. Virginian Rail.