najtural history of the king rail 



25 



as its winter retreat. From late November to mid-December, I stopped 

 by almost daily to see its fresh tracks leading from the pipe to the 

 mudflat of the reservoir. 



A rather surprising wintering habitat is the cutover longleaf pine 

 {Pinus pahistris) land of central Louisiana. Bob white and Wood- 

 cock hunters flush King Kails from little damp spots or seepage 

 areas in the bluestem {Andropogon tener and A. dwergens) range. 

 Crayfish, a prime food of the rail, also are found there. 



FLORIDA 



A. H. Howell (1932, p. 202), in commenting on the status of the 

 King Rail in Florida during the early 1930's, said it was probably 

 most numerous in the Everglades and big marshes of the upper St. 

 Johns River. D. J. Nicholson of Orlando (personal communication, 

 1962), who has made an intensive study of Florida birds since 1900, 

 told me the King Rail is still a common to abundant breeding bird in 

 many parts of central and southern Florida, although extensive drain- 

 age projects in the area have destroyed thousands of acres of marsh 

 habitat. In addition to the two areas mentioned by Howell, Nicholson 

 included the open wetlands of the Kissimmee Prairie as an important 

 King Rail area. He added that the King Rail is common in the 

 St. Johns River marshes in Seminole, Orange, Volusia, Brevard, and 

 Indian River Counties; and is found in good numbers nesting on 

 Merritt Island, Brevard County, "both in the salt marshes near 

 Wayne's Clapper Rail, as well as in numerous fresh water ponds on 

 that island." 



S. A. Grimes (personal communication) reports that, in northern 

 Florida, the King Rail occurs in most of the fresh-water marshes 

 of Duvall County. Two of the several nests he found were in open 

 cypress bayheads. 



A. D. Cruickshank (personal communication), in writing from 

 Brevard County, said that the King Rail is decidedly more common 

 there in winter than during the breeding season, with peak numbers 

 usually coming in late December and January. Apparently the local 

 population is augmented by migratory populations from north of 

 Florida. Evidence of local abundance in this area is based on the 

 annual Audubon Society Christmas bird count conducted within a 

 15-mile radius of Cocoa, Fla. (Cruickshank et al., 1953-66). The 

 numbers of King Rails reported has ranged between 11 and 93 over 

 the past 14 years and averaged 40 per year. Cruickshank reports that 

 the best localities are {a) fresh- water marshes around Lake Poinsett, 

 a large lake in the St. Johns River, and (5) fresh-water marshes on 

 Merritt Island. 



During the period May 4-8, 1964, I examined some marches in 

 Indian River, Osceola, and Glades Counties. Approximately 10 miles 

 south of Fellsmere, Indian River County, at the junction of State 



348-693 0—69—^ 



