Rails have suffered from destruction of their habitat through drain- 
age for mosquito control and other purposes. A few reports on the sora 
indicate that its numbers have declined, probably due as mich to the 
freezing of southern marshes as to excessive shooting. At several points 
on the south Atlantic coast the hunting of "marsh hens" (king and clapper 
rails) is a popular sport. Hunters going out for these birds last year 
reported a marked scarcity and requests for an immediate closed season 
were made from some of the states. The clapper rail, however, does not 
come under Federal supervision. Fortunately, these birds produce large 
sets of eggs so that if given aid, they are likely to recover rapidly. 
Mourning Doves 
In the last report on this subject (Wildlife Leaflet BS-165) comment 
was made on the losses suffered by the mourning dove in the southeastern 
states during the storm of January, 1940. The full significance of the blow 
was not fully appreciated at that time although it became more and more ap- 
parent with the progress of the 1940 breeding season and report after 
report came in telling of the scarcity of doves. While regulatory action 
was taken to reduce the kill during the hunting season, it now appears 
that more drastic measures would have been fully justified. 
So serious did the situation appear in some regions, that instructions 
were awaiting C. E. Gillham, biologist of the Mississippi Flyway, when he 
returned to his headquarters from work in the Canadian Arctic, to proceed 
immediately to Tennessee to investigate the status of the dove in that 
state. Similar instructions were given to H. S. Peters, the biologist of 
the Atlantic Flyway, to cover dove areas in the southern states of that 
flyway. 
In his report Mr. Gillham makes the significant statement that when, 
on September 5 he left his headquarters at Edwardsville, in southern 
Tilinois, he knew of two nests in that town containing fledgling doves, 
although the shooting season in that state had been open for five days. 
From the survey made he found that "except where concentrated by grain 
fields, doves are scarce." He concluded that a comvletely closed season 
might be necessary east of the Mississippi River. — 
The experience of sportsmen, game management agents, and biologists 
was the same throughout most of the southeastern region and there was 
almost complete unanimity as.to the general scarcity of these birds. The 
only exception to this condition was an unusual concentration reported 
early in the season from southern Florida. In that section good sport was 
available for a few days and then the flocks dispersed. 
A conference with representatives of the game departments of most of 
the southeastern states on the status of the mourning dove was held at 
Atlanta, Georgia, on April 15, 1941, and the testimony there developed was 
almost unanimously in support of the findings already stated. Im all of 
those states the dove is an important game bird and it was obvious that the 
