Other Species 

 Coot 



The lowly coot, or "mudhen," should be a more popular game bird. 

 When properly prepared it possesses good flavor and when fairly on the 

 wing it has a flight speed that will test the skill of the marksman. 

 Ranging from ooast to coast, laying large sets of eggs, and suffering 

 less from hunting, this species continues to increase at a rate that is 

 disproportionate to that of the more generally preferred types of water- 

 fowl. 



Sora 



The problem of obtaining precise information regarding the popula- 

 tion status of any of the rails is difficult. It is known, however, that 

 in recent years great areas in the habitat of the sora have been destroyed 

 through drainage, chiefly for the control of mosquiteos. This cannot help 

 having an adverse effect upon the rails as well as upon other forms of 

 life dependent upon marsh associations. 



Wi:. son's Snipe 



At the time of the January freeze in the Southern States, it was 

 feared that the "jaoksnipe" also was being severely affected, and a few 

 birds were found that had apparently succumbed to the prevailing adverse 

 weather conditions. All field personnel were, therefore, instructed to 

 watch the spring migration closely and report any deviations from normal* 

 The Wilson's snipe has an extensive breeding range, nesting northward to 

 Alaska, Mackenzie, Labrador, and Newfoundland. With the exoeption of the 

 Pacific Flyway, for which available information indioates an increase., 

 reports of decrease exceed those of increase for the entire country. Anal- 

 ysis of the data does not, however, indicate that the situation is at all 

 serious, but it is one that must be closely watched. Drainage has de- 

 stroyed much habitat of the jaoksnipe also and the bird is by no means so 

 abundant as in the past. 



White-wineed Dove 



The white« J winged Dove is a subtropical species that is found com- 

 monly in the United States enly in the lower Rio Grande Valley and in 

 the Southwest, where two subspecies (eastern and western)' are represented. 

 The birds came under Federal jurisdiction with ratification of the treaty 

 with Mexico for the protection of migratory birds. As game, they are of 

 interest only in Texas and Arizona* 



Early open seasons, once nearly in midsummer, were formerly permit- 

 ted in the belief that these doves had an early migration, because of 

 storms, that took them out of the country. During the past three years 

 the problem has been intensively studied in Arizona by Johnson A. Neff , 

 a biologist of the Survey, and more recently it has been possible for 

 George B. Saunders, the biologist of the Central Flyway, to make investi- 

 gations in Texas. 



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