14 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 67 



September 10, 1951, had traveled some 60 miles and was probably 

 migrating. 



Spring arrival and fall departure dates are given in table 2. Some 

 of these dates are questionable; those for the interior northern part 

 of the range may be more reliable than those along the Atlantic coast 

 where so many King Eails winter. 



LOCAL MOVEMENTS 



Information on local movements was obtained at two marshy im- 

 poundments at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Md., dur- 

 ing the summers of 1965 and 1966. In 1965, four pairs of King Rails 

 nested in an impoundment known as Knowles Unit 2 ; in 1966, no King 

 Rails nested there because of deep water. Knowles 2 has an area of 20 

 acres, of which about 10 acres are shrub swamp or marsh or a mixture 

 of the two. Knowles Unit 1, the other impoundment, is larger, but 

 contained only about 6 acres of marsh and shrub swamp at the time. 

 One pair of King Rails nested there in 1965 and 1966. 



Table 2. — Spring arrival and fall departure dates for migrating King Rails 

 Location Arrival Departure Source 



Mississippi Flyway: 



Stuttgart, Ark Feb. 15 to Mar. 30 Mid-October to mid- Meanley, unpublished. 



November. 



Missouri Mar. 21 to 31. Late October Widmann, 1907, p. 59. 



Buckeye Lake, Ohio Apr. 11 to 20 Late September Trautman, 1940, p. 229. 



Chicago, lU Mid-April Late October. Ford, 1956, p. 33. 



Knox County, Ind Apr. 15 to 30. -.. Section of Migratory Non- 



game Bird Studies, Migra- 

 tory Bird Populations 

 Station, unpublished. 



Kansas Apr. 18 (median date) Johnston, 1964, p. 611. 



Vicksburg, Mich.. Apr. 19... Oct. 10 Gatest). Rapp, 1931, p. 7. 



Southern Michigan. Apr. 21 to May 10 Late August through Wood, 1951, p. 146-147. 



September. 



Southern Minnesota Late April Late September Roberts, 1936, p. 440. 



Clay County, Iowa May 1 to 7.. Early September Tanner and Hendrickson, 



1956, p. 54. 



Decatur, Ala Late October. Hulse, personal communica- 

 tion. 



Atlantic Flyway: 



Raleigh, N.C Late March. Brimley, 1917, p. 299. 



Western Pennsylvania Mid to late April Todd, 1940, p. 183-184. 



New York, N.Y.. Late April. Cruickshank, 1942, p. 156. 



Connecticut River Valley September, early Bagg and Eliot, 1937, p. 178- 



Massachusetts and October. 180. Sage and Bishop, 



Connecticut. 1913, p. 48. 



Broadway Meadows September Meanley, unpublished. 



Kent County, Del. 



Laurel, Md September Meanley, unpublished. 



One of a pair of nesting King Rails trapped and banded on June 12, 

 1965, in Knowles 2, was first recaptured on August 2, approximately 

 200 yards from where it was banded. This bird was recaptured a second 

 time on August 7, approximately 350 yards from the second site and 500 

 yards from the original site. 



The young of the 1965 nest in Knowles 1 were hatched on July 2 and 

 3. Earlier, one of the adults was banded and color-marked while incu- 

 bating. Both adults and the brood remained within 100 feet of the 

 nest most of the time until at least July 24, a period of 3 weeks. 



