1907 J Abbott, Summer Bird-life of the Newark Marshes. 3 



was my companion. In order to make as thorough an investiga- 

 tion as possible, Saturday afternoon and the whole of Sunday were 

 given up to the work, the night being spent at Newark. Mr. 

 Callender joined us on Sunday morning. 



The particular spot where the birds seemed to be most abundant, 

 and to which our activities were confined, is best reached by walk- 

 ing along the railroad from Newark. In fact it is bounded on 

 three sides by tracks, two of which are busy lines w T ith constantly 

 passing or shunting trains. It was certainly not a place where one 

 would expect to look for a profusion of marsh-birds, which have a 

 reputation for shyness and seclusion. Engineers and others about 

 the place were found to be familiar with the birds, classing them 

 under the general name of 'mud-hens.' 



On the railroad tracks we could constantly hear the harsh cries 

 of the Gallinules from among the reeds close by, and when we 

 reached a spot which commands a view of open water many birds 

 were seen swimming. With the aid of prism binoculars we plainly 

 identified a Coot among them, and what was even more gratifying, 

 several birds which were at once recognized as Pied-billed Grebes 

 (Podilymbus podiceps), a species not observed by Messrs. Hann 

 and Callender on their first visit. As we emerged from an old 

 barn which we used for changing our clothes, we observed a Black- 

 crowned Night Heron flying lazily over the swamp, with what 

 appeared to be an eel dangling from its claws. The bird seemed 

 to provide the last necessary suggestion of wildness to our urban 

 hunting-ground, and helped to drive from our imaginations the 

 presence of factories and city blocks only a few hundred yards away. 



The water in the swamp was found to be about thigh deep, that 

 is to say the w T ader sank that distance, but fully half the apparent 

 depth was caused by the soft mud under the water. Occasionally, 

 one w r ould step into a hole up to his chest, but this was unusual, and 

 for the most part the ground under the mud was solid and trust- 

 worthy. The area searched consisted of a broad tract of open 

 water, containing a few islands, and bordered on the one side by 

 the railroad track and on the other by a luxuriant growth of cat- 

 tails into which many arms and bays extended. In addition there 

 were among the cat-tails a number of isolated ponds unconnected 

 with the main tract. All water, with the exception of the center of 



