NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 255 



river and canals or streams connecting the lakes, only 41 were discovered. The 

 bird is so easily killed, so highly esteemed as food, and is found in a State where 

 so little attention is paid to the enforcement of the bird and game laws, the pros- 

 pects of its long survival are not at all encouraging. 



Nesting. — Audubon (1840) says of the nesting habits of the limpkin r 



The nest of this bird is placed among the larger tufts of the tallest grasses 

 that grow at short distances from the bayous, many of which are influenced by 

 the low tides of the Gulf. It is so well fastened to the stems of the plants, in 

 the sam(; manner as that of Rallus crepitans, as to be generally secure from 

 inundation; and is composed of rank weeds matted together, and forming a large 

 mass, with a depression in the center. The eggs, which rarely exceed five or six, 

 are large for the size of the bird. The young are hatched early in May, and 

 follow their parents soon after birth. 



Thomas H. Jackson (1887) gives a somewhat different impression; 

 he writes: 



For a nesting place this bird chooses a secluded spot where intruders are not 

 likely to venture, on the bank of a river or a slough, often overhanging the 

 waters and surrounded by a bottom of mud so deep that only a boat can give 

 access to it. Several pairs often nest close together in the manner of herons, 

 though isolated nests are frequently observed. The nest is composed of pieces 

 of dead vines, dry leaves, and old vegetation of various kinds loosely constructed, 

 and is generally bedded on a mass of vines and from 5 to 8 feet from the 

 ground. 



C. J. Pennock has sent me some extensive notes on his experience 

 with the Umpkin, from Avhich I quote as follows: 



During the latter part of March, 1924, the writer had an opportunity, for the 

 first time, to form an interesting acquaintance, lasting but five or six days how- 

 ever, with individuals of this species in a vast marsh in southeastern Florida. 

 We found probably eight or ten pairs of the birds scattered over diflferent sections 

 of Vv'hat may be roughly estimated as 25 square miles of the marsh. Four days 

 of this time, March 22, 24, 25, and 26, were spent traversing this area in a small 

 boat propelled by poling, as oars were impossible in almost all places on account 

 of the matted growths of water hyacinths, water lilies, yellow spatter docks, and 

 various other forms of aquatic plants usually grouped in name as "bonnets" by 

 natives of the district. So far as observed the limpkins confined their activities to 

 the broad open reaches of marsh where we found numerous tracts of saw grass 

 and clumps of myrtle. The nests, of which we found six or seven, were invariably 

 in the tall saw grass. A bulky platform was lashed securely to the upright 

 growing .stems by interlacing the blades. On this were laid broken leaves and 

 stems to make a secure receptacle which was but slightly depressed like a shallow 

 plate. The whole quite in the form of the more common type of nest of the 

 clapper rail, as I have noted it along the Gulf coast of Florida. All of the nests 

 seen were in coarser, taller groups of saw grass growing in water 18 inches to 2 

 feet or more in depth and were placed only a step or two back from the open 

 water. But three of the nests found contained eggs; one held five the others 

 had four each, all others were about completed. Nesting did not appear to be 

 communal. No two nests were nearer than a half mile of one another, but the 

 scarcity of the birds might account for such happening. With birds as numerous 

 as different persons related and saw grass in no greater abundance than was seen, 

 the probabilities are that in former years these birds did nest in colonics or at 



