2 Abbott, Summer Bird-life of the Newark Marshes. [ja^ 



My first suspicion that the Florida Gallinule might be a nesting 

 species about New York was when I heard that a bird of this species 

 had been shot by two boys on the mill-pond at Bristol, Pa., in early 

 September, 1899, and taken for identification to Dr. Joseph Abbott 

 of that place. On September 7, 1902, I spent an afternoon explor- 

 ing the Bristol mill-pond, but found no trace of Gallinules. 



On May 28, 1904, while entering the Jersey City yards in a train 

 of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, I had an admirable view of 

 a Gallinule swimming in a small patch of rushes close to the track- 

 side. I spoke to Dr. William C. Braislin of Brooklyn about the 

 bird and on July 15, 1905, was invited to accompany him in explor- 

 ing a similar situation close to the terminal of the Long Island 

 Railroad in Long Island City, where the presence of Florida Galli- 

 nules was first discovered by Messrs. W. F. and John Hendrickson. 

 Here we found the birds in numbers, with ample evidences of their 

 nesting, as fully described by Dr. Braislin in 'The Auk,' Volume 

 XXIII, 1906, page 189. 



My interest in the possibilities of trackside swamps was by this 

 time fully aroused and in my daily commutings over the main line 

 of the Central Railroad of New Jersey I was constantly on the alert 

 for further signs of the Gallinules. On August 4, 1905, an accident 

 on the main line of the railroad caused the trains of that line to be 

 dispatched by way of Newark, and a close watch of the new terri- 

 tory was rewarded by the sight of a number of dark colored birds 

 swimming in a patch of open water at the point where the Newark- 

 Elizabethport Branch crosses the Philadelphia and Reading freight 

 tracks. I told my friends of the incident, and on Decoration Day, 

 May 30, 1906, Messrs. H. H. Hann and J. P. Callender visited the 

 place. The account they brought back was certainly enough to 

 arouse the enthusiasm of the most callous ornithologist. Not only 

 had they seen the Gallinules in numbers, and discovered both their 

 eggs and young, but they also found three nests of the Least Bittern 

 (Ardetta exilis) containing eggs, as well as one of the comical little 

 fuzzy young birds. Furthermore they reported the presence of 

 the American Coot (Fulica americana), two of which had been 

 seen swimming in the open water. 



My next available holiday, which was not till Saturday, June 16, 

 was promptly set aside for a visit to the marshes, when Mr. Hann 



