NATURAL HISTORY OF THE KING RAIL 



87 



At a Lonoke, Ark., fish hatchery two rail nests found along the edge 

 of a pond had been broken up by raccoons as evidenced by numerous 

 tracks leading from the nest to a point in the open where the eggs had 

 been taken and destroyed. 



The mink may also be an important predator of this rail. The Kev. 

 John Bachman, pioneer naturalist from Charleston, S.C., was quoted 

 by Audubon (1835, p. 29-30) regarding the fate of the King Rail as 

 follows : 



Its feathers are frequently found lying on the banks of rice-fields, ponds and 

 lagoons, in places where the tracks of the minx plainly disclose the plunderer. 



Similarly, on the Arkansas Grand Prairie, a mink trapper told me 

 of finding typical mink signs at freshly killed King Rails. In Cur- 

 rituck County, N.C., Kenneth Wilson (1954, p. 199-307) found six 

 species of birds taken by mink, including the King Rail. Wilson 

 also cited one case in which an otter {Lutra canadensis) ate one of 

 these large rails. 



Predation by a bobcat {Lynx rufm) was noted by Bachman and 

 cited in Audubon ( 1835, p. 29-30) as follows : 



. . . while placed on a stand for deer, I saw a wildcat creeping through a 

 marsh that was near to me, evidently following by stealthy steps something that 

 he was desirous of making his prey. Presently he made a sudden pounce into 

 a bunch of grass, when I immediately heard the piercing cries of the Marsh-Hen, 

 and shortly after came passing by me the successful murderer with the bird in 

 his mouth. 



Tanner and Hendrickson (1956, p. 56) found a dead King Rail at 

 the den of a red fox ( Vulpes fulva) in Iowa : 



During May and June 1951, the den of a red fox on the research area was 

 visited almost daily and the remains of prey brought to the den by the parent 

 fox examined. The omly rail seen at the den was an adult King Rail found 

 May 12. Since this bird had not been present May 11, and obviously had been 

 dead several days, it seemed likely that it had been found dead by the foxes 

 and brought to the den as carrion. The carcass had not been mutilated. 



Bachman (in Audubon, 1835, p. 29) also found remains of a King 

 Rail in the stomach of a large moccasin (probably Agkistrodon 

 piscivoTus) . Another ornithologist of the Charleston area, Arthur T. 

 Wayne, also cited an example of cottonmouth predation on the King 

 Rail (1910, p. 36) : 



In the month of April, 1900, I was observing a nest of this species in a button- 

 wood bush, which was in a pond of water, and, about every other day, I waded 

 into the pond to see how many eggs were there. About the 8th of May, I judged 

 that the full complement of eggs would be completed, and upon visiting the nest 

 in the afternoon, which was very cloudy, I saw what I supposed to be the bird 

 incubating. But upon close inspection I was very much surprised to find that 

 what I took for the bird was a huge Moccasin {Ancistrodon piscivorus) , which 

 I promptly shot. This snake had eaten all the eggs and perhaps caught the bird 

 as the feathers were scattered around the nest. 



