Tall Timbers Research Station, Route 1, Box 160, Tallahassee, Florida 32312 USA; 'ZNational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA; and :Department of Biological Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816 USA Little is known of the extent of movement and winter ranges of Clapper Rails (Rallus longirostris) in the United States despite years of study by orni- thologists and game biologists (Stewart 1951, 1954; Mangold 1977). For example, only recently was it learned that the endangered southwestern popula- tion, R. l. yumanensis, leaves its breeding grounds in the Colorado River Valley to winter in Mexico (Tom- linson and Todd 1973, Banks and Tomlinson 1974). Populations in the southeastern states are thought to be largely nonmigratory and strictly confined to coastal areas (Adams and Quay 1958). The northern subsepcies, R. l. crepitans, is known to range south in winter along the Atlantic Coast as far as the vi- TABLE 1. Recent specimens of migrant or out-of-range Clapper Rails from Florida. Museum  Locality in Florida Date Age/sex Collector Rallus longirostris crepitans USNM 525849 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Nov 1966 Adult 9 Olson, W. M. Hobbs USNM 525880 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Nov 1966 Adult 9 Olson, W.M. Hobbs USNM 525881 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Nov 1966 Adult 9 Olson, W.M. Hobbs USNM 525850 Wakulla Co., Shell Pt. 23 Sep 1961 Immature c Olson et al. UCF 206 Orange Co., WDBO tower 11 Sep 1969 Adult 9 Taylor Rallus longirostris waynei USNM 525848 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Nov 1966 Adult c Olson, W. M. Hobbs TTRS 2811 Leon Co., Tallahassee 6 Oct 1965 Immature 9 H.M. Stevenson TTRS 3664 Leon Co., WCTV tower 9 Apr 1980 Adult 9 Crawford UCF 900 Brevard Co., Merritt Is., VAB 30 Sep 1971 Adult 9 L. Ellis, R. Bush UCF 901 Brevard Co., Merritt Is., VAB 20 Oct 1971 Adult 9 L. Ellis, R. Bush UCF 916 Pinelias Co. (northern) Oct 1969 Adult 9 V. Morrison Rallus longirostris scottii UCF 875 Brevard Co., Merritt Is., VAB 28 Sep 1971 Adult 9 L. Ellis, R. Bush UCF 897 Brevard Co., Merritt Is., VAB 28 Sep 1971 Adult 9 L. Ellis, R. Bush Rallus longirostris scottii > waynei UCF 899 Brevard Co., Merritt Is., VAB 25 May 1971 Adult 9 L. Ellis, R. Bush Rallus longirostris saturatus USNM 525878 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Nov 1966 Adult 9 Olson, W. M. Hobbs USNM 525877 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 23 Nov 1966 Adult c Olson, W. M. Hobbs USNM 525875 Franklin Co., Turkey Pt. 4 Mar 1967 Adult 9 Olson TTRS 2810 Leon Co., Tallahassee 27 Jul 1937 Adtlt 9 M.K. Gibson ' USNM - National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; UCF - University of Central Florida; TTRS = Tall Timbers Research Station. 0 R I, saturatus ß R,I waynei I R.i crephans Historic Ranges R I waynei  Zone of intergradation Fig. 1. Distribution of Clapper Rails (Rallus longirostris) in Florida with locations of significant new specimen records. cinity of Jacksonville, Florida (A.O.U. 1957), but the remaining subspecies (waynei, scottii, insularurn, and saturatus) are believed to be sedentary, with seasonal movements and inland occurrences being limited to aberrant stragglers rather than migrants (Fig. 1, Howell 1932, Oberholser 1937, A.O.U. 1957, Man- gold 1977, Kale 1978). Recent banding studies on the Georgia coast, however, indicate the possibility of regular long-distance movements (Hon et al. 1977). One Clapper Rail banded there in September 1974 was recovered in Maryland in May 1975. Another, banded in August 1975, was recovered at Merritt Is- land, Florida in November 1975. Herein, we report more evidence of overland or long-distance move- ments by Clapper Rails based on subspecifically identified specimens obtained during our indepen- dent studies (Table 1, Fig. 1). The data presented here indicate that the winter ranges of various subspecies of Clapper Rails in Flor- ida have been, and still are, very imperfectly under- stood. The distinctive, pale northern race R. 1. crepi- tans, heretofore thought to occur only rarely in Florida on the northeast coast, is now known from much farther south and inland in Orange County (Taylor and Anderson 1973), but more significantly on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Franklin and Wakulla counties. The subspecies of the middle At- lantic Coast, R. 1. waynei, stated to occur on the At- lantic Coast in winter south only to Merritt Island, has several times struck the Vehicle Assembly Build- ing (VAB) at Merritt Island during fall migration, im- plying movement farther to the south. Indeed, How- ell (1932) reported a specimen of waynei taken in April 1920 at Jupiter, 160 km south of Merritt Island. This subspecies has also been taken on the Gulf Coast in Franklin and Pinelias counties and 40 km inland from the Gulf in Leon County. Olson maintains some res- ervations about the distinctiveness of the subspecies R. 1. saturatus of the western Gulf Coast, mainly be- cause the vast majority of available specimens from the range of that form are in quite worn plumage. Nevertheless, specimens matching those assigned to saturatus have been taken as far east as Franklin County and inland in Leon County (Stevenson 1950, 1962; and specimens examined in this study), where- as this subsepcies had been thought to occur nor- mally no farther east than Pensacola, Florida (Ober- holser 1937). The peninsular race R. 1. scottii, previously thought not to extend farther north on the Atlantic Coast than the vicinity of Jupiter, has now been taken as far north as Merritt Island, where it has been killed during nocturnal flights at the VAB. The data presented here provide considerable evi- dence for mixing of populations of Clapper Rails in Florida in winter. Noteworthy in this context is that on 4 November 1966 Olson and W. M. Hobbs col- lected specimens of four different subspecies (crep- itans, waynei, scottii, and saturatus) in a single small area of salt marsh at Turkey Point, Franklin County. The presence of the northeastern subspecies crepi- tans at two localities on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida is an almost certain indication of overland flight, as it is extremely unlikely that these birds would have flown the 1,200 km around the tip of peninsular Florida. The inland occurrences are like- wise probably indications of overland movements. In addition to those previously mentioned, there is a specimen of R. I. waynei, now at the University of Georgia, that was killed at Atlanta, Georgia on 1 Sep- tember 1971 (French 1972). We agree with Hon et al. (1977) that the evidence as yet is too meager to decide whether these move- ments represent postbreeding dispersal, migration, or merely aberrant wanderers, although we regard the last as the least likely. For example, two of the subspecies of Clapper Rails in the western U.S. are known to disperse, migrate, or both (Wilbur and Tomlinson 1976). There is a highly skewed sex and age ratio among the specimens listed in Table 1. Of 18 specimens taken out-of-range or in migration, 15 are females and 16 are adults. Both of these ratios are significantly at variance from equality by simple Chi- squared tests (P  0.0005). The specimen of R. I. waynei from Jupiter, now at the Museum of Com- parative Zoology, is also a female (R. A. Paynter, Jr. in litt.); the Atlanta specimen of waynei is a male (Lloyd Logan pers. comm.). In species known to be "partial migrants" females are usually the more mi- gratory sex (Lack 1944, Baker 1978: 636). Additional collecting during the late fall and win- ter is needed before the true extent and nature of movements among the eastern races of the Clapper Rail can be properly assessed. Meanwhile, it seems likely that inland occurrences are the result of normal patterns of dispersal or migration rather than of dis- oriented stragglers. Identifications of specimens in Table 1 were con- firmed by Olson with assistance from M. Ralph Browning. We are also grateful to R. C. Laybourne, R. C. Banks, and H. W. Kale II for their previous identifications of certain of these specimens. Tip Hon and H. M. Stevenson generously shared their re- search material. Lucy Laffitte prepared the figure. LITERATURE CITED ADAMS, D. A., & T. L. QUAY. 1958. Ecology of the Clapper Rail in southeastern North Carolina. J. Wildl. Mgrnt. 22: 149-156. AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. 1957. Check- list of North American birds, fifth ed. Baltimore, Maryland, Amer. Ornithol. Union. BAKER, R.R. 1978. The evolutionary ecology of an- imal migration. New York, Holmes & Meier Pub., Inc. BANKS, R. C., & R. E. TOMLINSON. 1974. Taxonomic status of certain Clapper Rails of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Wilson Bull. 86: 325-335. FRENCH, T. 1972. Clapper Rail in downtown Atlan- ta. Oriole 37: 5-6. HON, T., R. R. ODUM, & D. P. BELCHER. 1977. Re- sults of Georgia's Clapper Rail banding pro- gram. Proc. Ann. Conf. S.E. Assoc. Fish Wildl. Agencies 31: 72-76. HOWELL, A. H. 1932. Florida bird life. New York, Coward-McCann, Inc. KALE, H. W., II. 1978. Florida Clapper Rail Railus longirostris scottii Sennett. Pp. 112-113 in Rare and endangered biota of Florida, vol. 2: Birds (H. W. Kale II, Ed.). Gainesville, Florida, Univ. Presses of Florida. LACK, D. 1944. The problem of partial migration. Brit. Birds 37: 122-130, 143-150. MANGOLD, R. E. 1977. Clapper Rail (Railus longi- rostris). Pp. 84-92 in Management of migratory shore and upland game birds in North America (G. C. Sanderson, Ed.). Washington, D.C., In- ternatl. Assoc. Fish Wildl. Agencies. OBERHOLSER, H. C. 1937. A revision of the Clapper Rails (Railus longirostris Boddaert). Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 84 (3018): 313-354. STEVENSON, H. M. 1950. Distribution of certain birds in the southeastern United States. Amer. Midl. Natur. 43: 605-626. 1962. Clapper Rail in the interior of Flori- da--a correction. Amer. Midl. Natur. 67: 505. STEWART, R. E. 1951. Clapper Rail populations of the middle Atlantic states. Trans. 16th North Amer. Wildl. Conf.: 421-430. 1954. Migratory movements of the North- em Clapper Rail. Bird-Banding 25: 1-5. TAYLOR, W. K., & B. H. ANDERSON. 1973. Noctur- nal migrants killed at a central Florida TV tower: autumns 1969-1971. Wilson Bull. 85: 42-51. TOMLINSON, R. E., & R. L. TODD. 1973. Distribu- tion of two western Clapper Rail races as deter- mined by responses to taped calls. Condor 75: 177-183. WILBUR, S. R., & R. E. TOMLINSON. 1976. The lit- erature of the western Clapper Rails. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Spec. Sci. Rept.--Wildl. No. 194. Received 23 February 1982, accepted 8 July 1982.