THE AUDUBON BUI.I.KTIX 21 



The Ducks 

 of the Illinois River Marshes 



By Frederick C. Lincoln, Biological Survey, 



i >iited States Department of Agriculture 



AMONG the celebrated ducking marshes of the United States 

 J-\ there are few of greater importance than the bottom lands of 

 -*- -*- the Illinois River and the contiguous territory. Naturalists, 

 sportsmen, and conservationists generally are now fully awake to the 

 importance of preserving such areas as breeding, feeding, and resting 

 grounds for our wonderful wild life, not only for the preservation of 

 those forms that require marsh or swamp associations, but also for the 

 invaluable returns yielded in the form of health-giving sport and in 

 the practical contributions to our national larder. 



The marshes of the Illinois River, as here considered, refer to the 

 region in the vicinity of the junction of the Sangamon River with the 

 Illinois. Similar conditions are found, however, for many miles both 

 above and below this point, including the famous Crane Lake territory, 

 Grass Lake, and many other ponds and streams of minor importance. 



To one familiar with the saw-grass swamps of the Gulf and South 

 Atlantic coasts or with the great expanses of tules and cat-tails found in 

 the West, these marshes are unique. The heavy growths of herbaceous 

 vegetation are largely replaced by trees — oak, birch, ash, and pecan 

 being the most numerous, although regularly interspersed with maples, 

 elms, cottonwoods, and willows. Innumerable narrow sloughs wind 

 their tortuous ways through the timber, frequently widening out to 

 make ponds that are usually covered with lotus {Nelumbo) or arrow- 

 head (Sagittaria). The banks of the sloughs, as well as many depres- 

 sions, or sink-holes, through the timber, support large quantities of the 

 nut-grass or chufa (Cvperus) so prized by all shoal-water ducks. This, 

 with the acorns, smaller pecan nuts, wild millet, and to some extent the 

 seeds of the lotus, constitutes the bulk of the natural food supply for the 

 ducks that frequent the region. Supplemental feeding by the duck 

 clubs is practiced on a large scale, however, and thousands of bushels 

 of corn (both shelled and on the cob), together with cane seed, are fed 

 every year. To my certain knowledge one club fed over 3,000 bushels 

 of corn and 20 tons of cane seed during the open season of 1922. 



Several years ago, in the days of spring shooting, large numbers ot 

 diving ducks, as redheads and canvasbacks, frequented this territory, 

 and efforts were made to attract them by the feeding of corn and also 

 by propagating various plants known to be favorites with them. These 



