woe AUDUBON BULLETIN oi 
The Ducks 
of the Illinois River Marshes 
By Freperick C. Lincoin, Biological Survey, 
United States Department of Agriculture 
there are few of greater importance than the bottom lands of 
the [llinois River and the contiguous territory. Naturalists, 
sportsmen, and conservationists generally are now fully awake to the 
importance of preserving such areas as breeding, feeding, and resting 
grounds for our wonderful wild life, not only for the preservation of 
those forms that require marsh or swamp associations, but also for the 
invaluable returns yielded in the form of health-giving sport and in 
the practical contributions to our national larder. 
The marshes of the Illinois River, as here considered, refer to the 
region in the vicinity of the junction of the Sangamon River with the 
Illinois. Similar conditions are found, however, for many miles both 
above and below this point, including the famous Crane Lake territory, 
Grass Lake, and many other ponds and streams of minor importance. 
To one familiar with the saw-grass swamps of the Gulf and South 
Atlantic coasts or with the great expanses of tules and cat-tails found in 
the West, these marshes are unique. The heavy growths of herbaceous 
vegetation are largely replaced by trees—oak, birch, ash, and pecan 
being the most numerous, although regularly interspersed with maples, 
elms, cottonwoods, and willows. Innumerable narrow sloughs wind 
their tortuous ways through the timber, frequently widening out to 
make ponds that are usually covered with lotus (Ne/umbo) or arrow- 
head (Sagittaria). The banks of the sloughs, as well as many depres- 
sions, or sink-holes, through the timber, support large quantities of the 
nut-grass or chufa (Cyperus) so prized by all shoal-water ducks. This, 
with the acorns, smaller pecan nuts, wild millet, and to some extent the 
seeds of the lotus, constitutes the bulk of the natural food supply for the 
ducks that frequent the region. Supplemental feeding by the duck 
clubs is practiced on a large scale, however, and thousands of bushels 
of corn (both shelled and on the cob), together with cane seed, are fed 
every year. To my certain knowledge one club fed over 3,000 bushels 
of corn and 20 tons of cane seed during the open season of 1922. 
Several years ago, in the days of spring shooting, large numbers of 
diving ducks, as redheads and canvasbacks, frequented this territory, 
and efforts were made to attract them by the feeding of corn and also 
by propagating various plants known to be favorites with them. These 
‘ee the celebrated ducking marshes of the United States 
