the marsh. Twenty-three of the 30 nests found were in Spartina 

 a1 term' flora growths of medium height (2-4 feet). The mean number 

 of eggs per clutch was 10.5 + 0.29. Continuous parental care of 

 the young lasted 5 or 6 weeks. Change from chick to adult call 

 notes began at 7 weeks. The young started flying when 9 or 10 weeks 

 old, by which time they were becoming indistinguishable externally 

 from adults. A weekly index to the age of immature rails was 

 developed and is described. Nesting success was 42 percent, with 

 an average production of nine chicks per successful nest. Local 

 movements of the rails and trapping success were correlated with the 

 rhythm and height of the tides. Fall migration of clapper rails 

 through and from southeastern North Carolina apparently occurs in 

 September and early October. Banding recoveries (4 percent) suggest 

 that part of the local population may be nonmiqratory. The juvenile- 

 adult ratios of the summer (trapped) and fall (shot) populations were 

 approximately 4:1. The clapper rail is not heavily hunted in 

 North Carolina. (Author's summary) 



Keywords: ecology, clapper rail, food habits, North Carolina 



V-B-37 



Meanley, B. 1965. Early fall food and habitat of the sora in the Patuxent 

 River Marsh, Maryland. Chesapeake Science 6:235-237. 



This study attempts to relate foods and feeding behavior of the 

 sora to habitat in the Patuxent River marsh, Maryland. 



The freshwater tidal marsh of the Patuxent is the chief concentration 

 area of migrant soras in the Maryland part of the Chesapeake Bay system. 

 Soras first arrive during early August, reach the peak of migration in 

 late August and early September, and by late October most of these 

 birds have moved southward. The peak population coincides with 

 maximum seed availability in the marsh. 



In the Patuxent marsh, soras feed mainly on rather large seeds, 

 which are produced in great quantity, namely, tearthumbs, dotted 

 smartweed, wild rice, and Walter millet. Competition from other 

 birds, particularly the red-winged blackbird, limits the availability 

 of certain foods to the sora. Because of this, the abundant supply 

 of wild rice seed in Reed marsh is consumed before it matures. The 

 fact that many wild rice seeds found in sora stomachs were still 

 green indicates they were stripped from the plants. 



While some 50 different food items were found in the 241 sora 

 stomachs examined, only a dozen were represented by more than one 

 percent of volume. Four items--halberdleaf tearthumb, Walter millet, 

 dotted smartweed, and arrowleaf tearthumb--comprised nearly 80 percent 

 by volume. The same four items also were taken more frequently than 

 any other foods. 



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