g CIRCULAR 520, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



grass (Panicum virgatum), the seeds of which are a bird food; orach 

 (Atriplex patula) -; and seaside goldenrod (Solidago semper virens) . 

 The leaves of orach, arrowheadlike, and those of the seaside golden- 

 rod, lance-shaped, are somewhat thickened, a characteristic of many 

 salt-tolerating plants. The orach may be browsed by geese, or its 

 seeds eaten by various birds, but the goldenrod is not known to be 

 so used. 



Salt marshes may at first glance seem monotonous, but they have 

 a variety and play of color not lost on the attentive observer. In 

 summer the cordgrass is light green, the marsh hay darker, and the 

 black grass very dark. In fall all fade to russet, and in winter to 

 straw. The patches of samphire, or pickle grass, soft green in 

 summer, turn red or even scarlet in fall. 



BIRDS: MORE CHARACTERISTIC SPECIES 



The discussion of the birds of the salt marsh may be divided into 

 two parts, the first relating to species that either breed in or closely 

 frequent the usual salt-marsh vegetation; and the second, treating 

 those that visit the marshes but do not breed in them, except in trees 

 that are not really part of the salt-marsh vegetation. This second sec- 

 tion also includes birds whose true breeding home is in inland wooded 

 swamps or on bare beaches and islands, but which may frequently 

 fly over or even descend to feed in salt marshes. Birds of the first 

 classification are the more characteristic species. Birds of the second 

 are treated under the heading "Less characteristic species" (p. 12). 

 Highly characteristic birds of the salt marches are certain rails 

 and sparrows. Other species that breed in the marshes include the 

 black duck, blue-winged teal, bittern, certain shore birds, marsh 

 hawk, short-eared owl, red-winged blackbird, and the marsh wren. 

 The birds that nest on beaches and sandy islands are not considered 

 here, though some of them that feed in, or otherwise resort to, salt 

 marshes, will be referred to later. 



RAILS 



A bird family highly characteristic of the salt marshes is that of 

 the rails, and the most representative member of the family is the 

 clapper rail (R alius longirostris) , known also as marsh or meadow 

 hen. While rails abound in salt marshes, a casual observer might 

 spend considerable time in these areas and never see one, for they are 

 retiring and elusive and are most active in the morning and evening 

 hours when the transient observer is least likely to be in the marshes. 

 By going at those times, however, or by proceeding cautiously and 

 quietly at others, the bird watcher may occasionally have an op- 

 portunity to see rails. 



All of the group are narrow-bodied birds that slip about among the 

 dense vegetation of the salt marsh so readily that capture by direct 

 pursuit probably is not within the power of any of their enemies. 

 The clapper rail (fig. 1), about the size of a one-third-grown Leg- 

 horn chicken, is largely grayish, with some olive on the back and 

 buffy on the breast. It is always in the salt marshes, passing even the 

 winter there, from New Jersey southward. The king rail (R. 

 elegans), while chiefly an inhabitant of fresh- water marshes, oc- 



