We present the results of a VLA and WSRT search for H I emission from the vicinity of seven nearby clouds , which were observed in Ly \alpha absorption with HST toward Mrk 335 , Mrk 501 and PKS 2155-304 .
Around the absorbers , we searched a volume of 40 ^ { \prime } \times 40 ^ { \prime } \times 1000 km s ^ { -1 } ; for one of the absorbers we probed a velocity range of only 600 km s ^ { -1 } .
The H I mass sensitivity ( 5 \sigma ) very close to the lines of sight varies from 5 \times 10 ^ { 6 } M _ { \odot } at best to 5 \times 10 ^ { 8 } M _ { \odot } at worst .

We detected H I emission in the vicinity of four out of seven absorbers .
The closest galaxy we find to the absorbers is a small dwarf galaxy at a projected distance of 68 h ^ { -1 } kpc from the sight line toward Mrk 335 .
This optically uncataloged galaxy has the same velocity ( V = 1970 km s ^ { -1 } ) as one of the absorbers , is fainter than the SMC , and has an H I mass of only 4 \times 10 ^ { 7 } M _ { \odot } .
We found a somewhat more luminous galaxy at exactly the velocity ( V = 5100 km s ^ { -1 } ) of one of the absorbers toward PKS 2155-304 at a projected distance of 230 h ^ { -1 } kpc from the sight line .
Two other , stronger absorbers toward PKS 2155-304 at V \approx 17 , 000 km s ^ { -1 } appear to be associated with a loose group of three bright spiral galaxies , at projected distances of 300 to 600 h ^ { -1 } kpc .
These results support the conclusions emerging from optical searches that most nearby Ly \alpha forest clouds trace the large-scale structures outlined by the optically luminous galaxies , although this is still based on small-number statistics .
We do not find any evidence from the H I distribution or kinematics that there is a physical association between an absorber and its closest galaxy .
While the absorbing clouds are at the systemic velocity of the galaxies , the H I extent of the galaxies is fairly typical , and at least an order of magnitude smaller than the projected distance to the sight line at which the absorbers are seen .
On the other hand , we also do not find evidence against such a connection .

In total , we detected H I emission from five galaxies , of which two were previously uncataloged and one did not have a known redshift .
No H I emission was detected from the vicinity of the two absorbers , which are located in a void and a region of very low galaxy density ; but the limits are somewhat less stringent than for the other sight lines .
These results are similar to what has been found in optically unbiased H I surveys .
Thus , the presence of Ly \alpha absorbers does not significantly alter the H I detection rate in their environment .