THE LIAPPER RAIL, or Salt Water Marsh Hen, is a chicken-like bird with strong legs and a long bill The Secretive Clapper Rails BY BILL FAVF.R One of ihe mosi sccrclive of birds moves almost motionless through the marsh grasses. The Clapper Rail, or Salt Water Marsh Hen, is a chicken-like bird from 14-16 inch es long. It is grayish-brown in col or, hen-like in appearance, and has strong legs and a long bill. A white patch may be seen under its short tail, if you see the bird at all! Underparts are slightly brown. Often the only evidence of this bird in the marsh is its loud "cac, cac, cac" heard late in the evening or when the bird is disturbed dur ing the day. Birds are also noisy just before a storm. One bird can set off a chorus of others as the sound carries across the marsh. Clapper Rails live in marshes from Connecticut to South Rorida and on the West Coast. They nest on the ground in a clump of vegetation, usually at the highest part of the marsh. Nests can be a simple depression made of grass or a more elaborate construction using spartina leaves stuck in the mud and a runway leading FAVFR up to the nest itself. Usually 9-12 buffy eggs with brown spots arc laid. Rails live and nest at the mercy of the high tides and storms. A high spring tide can easily destroy a nest if the bird has miscalculated and eggs will float away and nests fall apart. Ground living also makes them very vulnerable to predators such as raccoons, opossums and cats. Hunters also value the marsh hen as a game bird. Clapper Rails feed at low tide on the mud flats, looking for fiddler crabs, other crustaceans, mussels, snails and worms. They have been seen to shake a male Tiddler crab until the long pinchcr claw falls off and then to consume it. Their habit of moving secre tively between the clumps of marsh grass has helped give meaning to the phrase "thin as a rail." These rails may be seen as they arc forced into view by high tides or as they dart across mud flats from one grass clump to another. They will look at you with surprise and then go on about their business as if nothing had happened. You will be surprised when all at once a "cac, cac, cac" will sound and other birds will join in to remind you that you arc not alone in the marsh, but share it with many other creatures. MORE LETTERS PO Traffic Ruins Quiet Neiphborhood To the editor: I have read with interest the many articles and editorials concerning the new post office. There is one other fact about the new post office which no one has seemed to notice except the residents and property owners of Seaside North. If you live in a pri vate residential development, you better watch out because this can al so happen in your community. Seaside North is located directly behind the post office. The develop ers of this nice, quiet, private com munity asked all the owners to please sign a release so several lots could be used by the post office. This release clearly stated no access to the post office would be made from inside the development; all ac cesses would be made from High way 904. Many owners signed this agreement and others decided not to sign. Regardless of what we were told, we no longer have a nice quiet community. The only access to the the post of fice, for the employees and the mail trucks, is if they use the first road in Seaside North (Gate One, S.W.). I live on that road. I am expected to pay street maintenance fees for the upkeep of that road and 1 am ex tremely upset. I No longer can children play in our development without parents worrying about them gelling run over. It's no longer safe to ride bikes, walk or skate like we have all enjoyed doing in the past. Now we are awakened at all hours of the morning with trucks making mail deliveries and with the postal em ployees speeding up and down the street on their way to work and home again. Our property value has decreased because no one else wants to deal with the traffic and the noise either. However, if someone does want to live in this area, ride through Seaside North. You'll find lots of homes and lots for sale. I personally asked the postmaster, Frank Bringoli, to see if the trucks and employees would please enter the post office by turning onto Gate One, S.W., from the Food Lion end. There is only one mobile home on that end and at this point no one is living in it. I told him I was just try ing to make a bad situation a little easier to handle. Mr. Bringoli acted like I was asking for something to tally outrageous and said a few cars and trucks shouldn't bother anyone. I doubt he would feel that way if the cars and trucks were driving up and down his street. I am asking the postal employees and anyone else who wants to drive down Gate One, S.W., consider the residents, slow down and if at all possible please enter and exit from behind the Food Lion. Remember, this could be your neighborhood. Sheilah M. HarTcll Seaside North Reader Agrees With Column To the editor: I was delighted to read Marjorie Megivern's column in the May 7 Beacon. I'm encouraged that some one else has the same thoughts 1 have when driving from Bolivia to Shallotic. She expressed almost every thought I've had-except more po litely. 1 have a list of names 1 say to people, wishing they could hear. I even think of putting a loudspeaker in my car so they will know what I'm saying about or to them. I'm one of those who wish I could instantly "wish" myself someplace and be there instantly, and can't un derstand people who drive slower by 10 to 15 miles per hour than the posted speed limit. 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