24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of the lake become more extensive. As a result, the marshland com- 

 munity has noticeably increased in numbers. In a single year at the foot 

 of the lake I noticed that the number of pairs of Least bitterns nesting 

 in a marsh of only a few acres in extent increased from one to seven pairs, 

 and the Florida gallinules from two to four pairs, whereas the rails, Marsh 

 wrens, Red-winged blackbirds and Swamp sparrows increased in like ratio, 

 and American bitterns which had not nested near the mouth of Sucker 

 brook for many years again returned to their old haunts at the foot of 

 the lake and nested there as they do in the marshes near the outlet. 

 A similar change is noticed at the head of the lake in the marsh between 

 the Inlet and Clark's Bridge. Here great numbers of Marsh wrens, Red- 

 winged blackbirds, Swamp sparrows, soras and Virginia rails, likewise 

 a goodly number of gallinules, Least bitterns and American bitterns, 

 as well as a few Black ducks and Blue-winged teals made their summer 

 home. On a smaller scale I have noticed an increase of marshland com- 

 munity in a bit of land near Springville, where a small brook was bridged 

 by the highway and its channel was dammed by the raising of the outlet 

 beneath the bridge. As a result, the land, covering only a few acres, which 

 had been slightly swampy before, grew up to sedges, cat-tails and rank 

 marsh grass. In the swamp there had been found Wilson's snipe and 

 Virginia rail nesting. In one year after the raising of the outlet the 

 appearance of soras and the Red- winged blackbird was noted, while within 

 two years both Least bitterns and King rails also appeared. 



In like manner the draining of marshes has been observed to result 

 in the reverse condition. The swamp near the foot of Canandaigua lake, 

 lying between the " feeder " and the old outlet, has been drained and 

 largely converted into meadowland and cultivated fields. As a result, 

 within five years the Short-eared owl, Marsh hawk, Bittern, Least bittern, 

 Sora, Virginia rail, Marsh wren, Red-winged blackbird and Swamp sparrow, 

 together with an occasional pair of Black duck and Blue-winged teal which 

 formerly occupied it as a breeding ground, disappeared, and in their places 



