BREEDING POPULATIONS OF CLAPPER RAIL AT CHINCOTEAGUE, VIRGINIA - 1952 
Robert EF. Stewart 
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
Studies this year were confined to one area to check the fluctu- 
ation during the nesting season. The breeding population of Clapper 
Rails at Chincoteague, Virginia was greater this year than in 1951, 
although it still did not approach the peak of 1950. Actual counts 
of occupied nests in a major study area at Chincoteague during the 
past 3 years, yield the following figures: 
1950 2 nests 
1951 25 nests 
1952 30 nests 
The hatching success of the early nesting was very high, being 
comparable to the excellent hatch (9%) of 1950 and being much better 
-than the initial hatch of 1951 (when it was less than 45%). At the end 
of the visit this year, 21 out of 30 nests had hatched successfully. 
The other 9 nests contained full or nearly full clutches, although it 
is probable that these included 2 or 3 that represented second nesting 
attempts. 
It is my belief at the present time that the preservation of exist- 
ing suitable habitats is the most important feature to be considered in 
the conservation of Clapper Rail populations. It is doubtful if hunting 
pressure has any appreciable permanent effect on the population. The 
law of diminishing returns seems to work very well for this species. 
Because the Clapper Rail cannot be considered a first-rate game bird, 
and since rail hunting is ordinarily a rather arduous sport, the average 
sportsman is not interested in rail hunting unless he feels assured that 
he can obtain really large numbers in a relatively short time. Another 
protective feature is the fact that Clapper Rails inhabit certain types © 
of marsh (such as needle rush, Juncus roemerianus) that are not hunted 
due to the difficulty of traversing the area. Such areas wuld act as 
reservoirs in serving to repopulate local adjacent marshes that have 
been excessively hunted during any one year. 
55 
INT.-—DUP. SEC., WASH. , D.C.3J123g 
