Ay Ee ban EL ONG @ Bi Util hebelN 23 
seen. The water had dropped 117 
cm. below the June 1 level. It is 
difficult to say what direct role 
the drop in the water level had 
on the coots’ nesting success other 
than a general degeneration of the 
marsh. It is very doubtful that any 
of the young lived to maturity, al- 
though most of the chicks must be 
reported as missing rather than 
dead. Because the particular fields 
in question were not pumped dry, 
they retained water longer than 
all the surrounding areas which 
were drained in mid-June. This 
would rule out movement of the 
young to any less hostile habitat, 
although the adults were free to 
fly as far away as they wanted to, 
which they apparently did. (I never 
found any evidence of adult mor- 
tality.) 
Many chicks probably died by 
being run over by tractors, as the 
residents of the area ploughed their 
land as soon as it dried out. On 
June 30, I found two chicks that 
had died in this fashion. Early in 
September, I was told by a local 
farmer that he had accidentally run 
over several chicks while ploughing 
his previously flooded land in late 
June. 
These wheat marshes were util- 
ized by many other organisms be- 
sides coots. The list of birds in- 
cludes Pied-billed Grebe (nest with 
one cold egg, nest with six cold 
eggs, June 1; adult with five downy 
young, June 16), four species of 
herons, eight species of ducks (most 
of them late migrants but one 
breeding attempt by Ruddy Ducks, 
and successful breeding of Blue- 
winged Teal in adjacent areas), and 
extensive nesting of Red-winged 
Blackbirds in the dry sections of 
the wheat. 
Watersnakes were fairly common 
in the marsh, with Natrix sipedon 
THINKING ABOUT BLUEBIRD HOUSES? 
Orville Rowe, the former bluebird house builder for the now defunct 
National Bluebird and Purple Martin Association, plans to build 
bluebird houses again this winter and is accepting orders now. He's 
apparently fighting inflation successfully, as there is no increase in 
his prices. 
Mr. Rowe reports his bluebird nesting houses are available for 
$6 a pair (sold only in packages of two), and $5 each for winter 
roosting houses. He also has anti-raccoon cleats for these houses 
available at two for $1. One of these cleats, when attached to a house, 
increases the thickness of the entrance hole to two inches and pre- 
vents a raccoon from reaching the nest. 
All orders are shipped by UPS, postpaid. 
Persons wishing to order houses or winter roost boxes from Mr. 
Rowe can do so by writing to: Orville Rowe, 4019 South Main Street, 
Elkhart, Indiana 46514. 
