a\PE SABLE SPARROW 867 



stopped to check on the colony. I was horrified to find the marsh 

 where the birds were had been burned flat, probably several weeks 

 previously. I spent the rest of the day tramping all the unburned 

 marsh I could find in the vicinity, but could not flush a single sparrow." 



In May 1962, following the most prolonged and severe drought in 

 recent history, a number of fu^es broke out in southern Florida. Two 

 that started at almost the same time, one near Cooperstown on the 

 Tamiami Trail, the other in the Lostmans Pine Island area, eventually 

 joined and together burned 77,000 acres within Everglades National 

 Park and some 107,000 acres more outside its borders. They covered 

 much of the territory inhabited by the Cape Sable sparrows, including 

 the area of greatest concentration bordermg the Shark River Valley. 

 It would indeed have been a miracle for any sparrow in the path of 

 those fires to have escaped. 



However, the fires did miss a tract of about 23,000 acres lying 

 mainly north, west, and southwest of the water gauge (see map, 

 Stimson, 1956). I have found Cape Sable sparrows at several points 

 on the perimeter of this unburned section in years past, but I have 

 never been able to penetrate its interior. This area, together with a 

 few small spots toward Ochopee, may now remain the only possible 

 reservoir for the future perpetuation of the species. 



On July 21, 1962, W. G. Atwater and I investigated the marsh at 

 the foot of the Barnes Strand where T had found Cape Sable sparrows 

 on Apr. 16, 1955. The day was ideal for our purpose, but though we 

 reached and had crisscrossed the marsh in ankle- and knee-deep 

 water a number of times before 10:00 a.m., we could not find a single 

 sparrow. We did find clear evidence that the entire marsh had been 

 burned, probably prior to 1962. 



A prolonged drought such as occurred from 1961 to June 1962, 

 cannot help but having in itself a decimatmg effect on the sparrows. 

 The complete dehydration of the land must destroy insect and other 

 invertebrate food of the seaside sparrows that depends on moisture 

 for its existence. On May 30, 1962, 1 visited the colony where I took 

 the 1952 specimen, and where I could always find at least 10 singing 

 males. Although the area fortunately had not been burned, I could 

 find only three singing males. Three weeks later, on June 20, 1962, 

 H. M. Stevenson and I hunted the same place for more than an hour 

 without finding a bird, though the weather conditions were ideal that 

 morning. At another colony, although a few males were singing, we 

 both thought the actions of the birds suggested they had not nested, 

 even at that late date. 



Recently, in the Ochopee area, another threat to the species has 

 developed. Real estate developers have put drag-line dredges and 

 bulldozers to work. They have dredged small lakes out of the marsh 



