54 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 67 



slightly and sounding something like 6omSoin-6om-6om-6om-. The 

 purpose of his "booming" call is not known. It is not very loud, and 

 the females were not nearby when it was uttered, unless they were 

 well concealed. 



Symbolic nest building 



Symbolic nest building was observed at Stuttgart, Ark. In this 

 case a male King Rail was observed carrying nesting material into 

 a hole in a ricefield dike through which water was draining into a 

 roadside ditch. The dike was about 21/2 feet in height, and the hole 

 was large enough for the bird to pass easily from one side to the other. 

 The light stream of water did not prevent an accumulation of nest- 

 ing material. However, the nest was not completed. Two days later 

 (April 2) the true nest was started about 10 yards from the hole in 

 the dike. 



Copulation 



Copulation usually takes place near the nest site, before and during 

 egg laying. Although no nests with eggs were found on the Arkansas 

 Grand Prairie before March 25, rails were observed copulating as 

 early as March 3, in 2 different years. Perhaps these birds nested 

 earlier than March 25. 



On one nesting territory, the male came within 20 feet of the nest 

 (containing one egg), called, and was answered by the female who 

 left the nest and came to the male for copulation. The jupe-jupe-jwpe- 

 jupe-jupe- call often precedes copulation during this period. Copula- 

 tion is performed with the female assuming a crouch and the male 

 m.ounting with legs and feet placed on the female's back. 



NESTING PERIOD 



The nesting period varies with latitude, being longer and starting 

 earlier in the southern part of the range. The nesting period in Florida 

 extends from late January, at least, until the middle of July, and in 

 Louisiana from early March to September. It is quite conceivable, 

 therefore, that in such States as Florida and Louisiana the breeding 

 season covers 7 to 8 months. Unlike the B6bwhite {Golwms virgin- 

 iarms) , Redwinged Blackbird, and several other species which do not 

 nest much earlier in the gulf coast region than in the northern States, 

 the King Rail takes advantage of the long warm period, and nests 

 over a longer period of time. The long period of nesting in the South 

 should result in a greater total production of young, because of the 

 much greater opportunity for renesting and second broods. The nesting 

 season in the Middle Atlantic States is about 4 months; adults with 

 downy young have been observed in early August in Delaware. 



