NA/rURAL HISTORY OF THE KING RAIL 



21 



Figure 6. — Southern bulrush (Scirpus calif ornicns) , fall panlcum {Panicum 

 dichotomiflorum) , and alligatorweed {Altemanthera philoxeroides) in prairie 

 marsh type near Creole, Cameron Parish, La., January 5, 1965. Between 5 :30 

 and 6 p.m., January 5, 1963, 24 King Rails were counted along a 1-mile transect 

 through this marsh. 



virtually all produce seeds utilized by a variety of water birds. Rice- 

 fields furnish an optimum all-purpose habitat for King Rails for 

 nearly 6 months during the summer half of the year, and a source of 

 food for them in winter (fig. 7) . 



On the gulf coast prairie of Louisiana and Texas, rice planting be- 

 gins in March. Some early varieties are harvested by late July, but 

 most fields are harvested from early August to early October. The 

 planting season in Arkansas is about 2 weeks later, and harvest is 

 from late August to early November. The fields are irrigated by wells 

 or by canal systems fed from reservoirs or bayous. Water remains on 

 the fields for 3 or 4 months and is maintained at a constant level of 

 from 6 to 10 inches. 



On the Arkansas Grand Prairie I found the nesting density of 

 King Rails in one ricefield to be at least one nest per 15 acres, a figure 

 based on the location of five nests in a 75 -acre field in July. These nests 

 were located by a team of men walking abreast and systematically 

 covering the field to remove a pest plant, the coffeebean {Seshania 

 excHtata) . The height of the nesting season was several months past, 

 and these nests probably represented a renesting effort or a second 



