ILLINOIS ere Certs) aN ee 52) Sloe ek LN 25 
A BLACK RAIL IN SUMMER IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS 
by H. DAVID BOHLEN 
During the spring of 1975, Richard Sandburg and I noted some habitat that 
looked like it might harbor Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis). The habitat 
was an intermittent pond south of Snicarte, Mason County. The area con- 
sisted of small pools of water 2-3 inches deep with the following plants 
prominent: Cattails (Typha, sp.), Blunt Spike Rush (Eleocharis obtusa); 
Englemann’s Spike Rush (Eleocharis engelmanni); Giant Bur-reed (Spar- 
ganium eurycarpum); Seed-box (Ludwigia alternifolia); Rush (Juncus 
marginatus); Sedges (Carex vulpinoidea, Carex scoparia). 
Since Black Rails are mostly nocturnal, it was not until June 20 that 
Richard and I played a tape recording of the ‘“kick-kee-do” song (from 
Peterson’s Western Bird Record) of the Black Rail at the area. At about 
10:15 p.m. there was a reaction to the tape. This was the scolding sound 
with which I had become familiar at Beverly, Illinois, when James Funk 
had lured in a Black Rail on May 28, 1973. After scolding the bird began 
giving the kick-kee-do song and repeated it 8-10 times. Walking the area 
produced no rails, so Richard and I decided to wait until daylight. A 
cuckoo-like sound also came from the center of the marsh and Richard 
remembered that A. C. Bent (in “LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERI- 
CAN MARSH BIRDS”) had attributed this to the female Black Rail. 
At daylight with several more observers (that had been called that 
night) the Black Rail 'was prompted to scold again by use of the tape. The 
observers then moved in the direction of the sound. The bird flushed about 
10-15 feet ahead of the observers, the dark charcoal color of the bird with 
a small amount of white in the wings was apparent. The dangling legs 
were also noted as the Black Rail feebly dropped back into the marsh 20-30 
feet away. The rail or rails (since there may have been a pair) were 
flushed two more times. On June 25, several more observers and I briefly 
saw the bird again in the same area. An intense search was not made 
again because of possible nesting interruption. This species is probably 
more numerous in Illinois than realized and is not observed because of its 
sulking habits in dense vegetation and the fact that it is mostly nocturnal. 
The first nest and eggs ever found in the United States was in the Calumet 
marshes at Chicago by E. W. Nelson and Frank Dewitt on June 19, 1875 
(Nelson, “BIRDS OF NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS, 1876). Other summer 
records are from Champaign and Adams Counties. 
I would like to thank A. C. Koelling for the plant identifications. 
—Zoology Department 
Illinois State Museum 
Springfield, Ill. 62706 
Far more crucial than what we know or what we do not know is what 
we do not want to know. — Eric Hoffer. 
