THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Vol. xxiv. January, 1907. No. 1. 



SUMMER BIRD-LIFE OF THE NEWARK, NEW 

 JERSEY, MARSHES. 



BY CLINTON G. ABBOTT. 



Plate I. 



It is not the good fortune of every bird-lover to be able to visit 

 the swamps of North Dakota, or even the more famous bird resorts 

 nearer home; but that bird-life of scientific interest can be found 

 within easy reach, and often in places where it would be least 

 expected, I think the present paper will show. 



There is a small group of bird-lovers, centering chiefly about the 

 Linnsean Society of New York, who are closely confined by busi- 

 ness in the city and whose ornithological investigations are there- 

 fore limited mostly to a small portion of the suburban district. 

 The region has been fairly well scoured, but no experiences have 

 been more interesting than the discoveries of the past summer in 

 the Newark marshes, which lie within seven miles of New York 

 City Hall, and are readily accessible within the limits even of an 

 ordinary Saturday afternoon ' half holiday.' 



These marshes, known sometimes as the Hackensack Meadows, 

 are very extensive in their entirety, and are familiar to every one 

 who has entered New York by train from the West. But it is only 

 with a comparatively small area that this paper deals — a tract 

 of not more than 100 acres. The bird-life of this spot proved to 

 be so very interesting that there was no temptation to search further, 

 the especially notable fact being the surprising numbers of Florida 

 Gallinules (Gallinula galeata) that were found nesting here. 



