NATURAL HISTORY OF THE KING RAIL 



57 



Tanner and Hendrickson (1956, p. 54) reported that in Clay County, 

 Iowa, nesting begins soon after the arrival of the birds during the first 

 week of May. 



In 1951 the nesting season extended for a period of 42 days from May 13, the 

 date that the first egg was laid, until June 23, the date that the last egg hatched. 



NEST SITE AND MATERIALS 



The usual nest site is in the shallow- water part of a marsh. The 

 water depth was 4 to 18 inches at Clay County, Iowa (Tanner and Hen- 

 drickson 1956, p. 55), 2 feet at Buckeye Lake, Ohio (Trautman 1940, 

 p. 229), and 6 to 8 inches in Arkansas ricefields. In South Carolina, 

 Wayne (1910, p. 35) found nests in buttonbushes 8 to 18 inches over 

 water. 



In a giant cutgrass marsh near Savannah, Ga., each of five nests 

 located was within 20 feet of the edge of the marsh, although the 

 vegetation density and other characteristics appeared uniform over 

 extensive areas. 



Occasionally a nest is placed on a dry-land site such as an oat or 

 wheatfield, or on a grassy embankment. In 1952, on Long Island, ^N'.Y., 

 Roy Latham (1954, p. 3-9) found a nest on the ground in a potato 

 field, 150 yards from the edge of a salt marsh where Clapper Rails 

 were nesting. 



The nest site appears to be chosen by the male. On two occasions, 

 I have seen a male initiate nest-building. 



Most King Rail nests are placed in fairly uniform stands of vege- 

 tation and are well concealed, but the shape of the nest canopy 

 (whether cone-shaped or round) sometimes disrupts the uniform pat- 

 tern of the vegetation and reveals the location of the nest to the hu- 

 man eye (figs. 22 and 23) . 



The life form of some plant in the territory, such as a tussock of 

 grass or the stool of a rice plant, often determines the exact nest site. 

 A nest may be placed in a clump of grass or a sedge tussock, or be- 

 tween several clumps, parts of which are used in fashioning the canopy 

 and sides of the nest. The bases of most Arkansas nests were made of 

 wet decaying plants, and the platforms or cups were of dead dry 

 grasses, sedges, or rushes. These materials are obtained near the nest 

 site. The base of one nest found in Arkansas was made entirely of 

 mud and was 2^/4 inches in depth. 



Nest materials used in some Iowa nests consisted of one or two 

 species of plants (Tanner and Hendrickson 1956, p. 55). Most nests 

 in Arkansas ricefields were made of rice plants; a few were made from 

 "weed" plants in the fields, such as wild millet. The completed nest 

 is a round, elevated platform with a saucer-shaped depression (figs. 

 23, 24, and 25). It usually has a round or cone-shaped canopy and a 

 ramp, and is nearly twice as large as that of the Virginia Rail or Sora. 



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