The Collaborative International Dictionary
Clapper \Clap"per\, n.
A person who claps.
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That which strikes or claps, as the tongue of a bell, or the piece of wood that strikes a mill hopper, etc. See Illust. of Bell.
Clapper rail (Zo["o]l.), an Americam species of rail ( Rallus scepitans).
Wikipedia
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. The Ridgway's rail and the mangrove rail have been recently split. Furthermore, some taxonomists consider that the king rail and Aztec rail should be considered within this group, as those birds look similar and the birds are known to interbreed where they share territories.
Usage examples of "clapper rail".
One other morning, long before John took the stage alone to Portsmouth, she had told him in detail about a half-dream in which she had not only seen a clapper rail scurrying along the edge of the narrow strip of marsh along Jones Creek,across which the Hampton Point people dared not come, she had heard the bird's spurt of wild, insistent clucking.