24 PH Ee cA DIU BONS BL rae 
and N. erythrogaster represented. 
Although I saw several N. erythro- 
gaster large enough to eat a newly- 
hatched coot, I have no evidence 
that they=did so. On; June Wie 
watched a family of coots feeding 
at the water’s edge, only three 
meters away from a motionless 
watersnake. At one point, a single 
chick ran away from the adult it 
had been feeding with, and crossed 
in front of the snake only one 
meter away, but the two creatures 
completely ignored each other. Ten 
minutes later, the same _ snake 
swam past a family of coots on 
and around their nest, and once 
again, there was no response from 
the birds. 
Predation by any animal on the 
coots was something I never found 
any evidence of. The only tracks I 
found were one set of raccoon 
tracks on June 28. Although there 
are dogs in the area, I never ob- 
served them in the marsh. 
Several of the common amphibi- 
ans and fish of southern Illinois 
had colonized the marsh, as did 
many invertebrates, none of which 
I attempted to identify or observe. 
Several questions have been 
puzzling me: If these particular 
fl fl 
coots have bred before, where are 
their normal nesting grounds, or 
was this summer their first breed- 
ing season? 
Where did they go when they 
deserted the degenerating marsh, 
some of them leaving their young 
behind? 
Did they attempt to renest far- 
ther north in more stable marshes? 
As a birder and an amateur biol- 
ogist, it has been an embarrassment 
to write an article leaving so many 
information gaps and unanswered 
questions. Ideally, a team of biolo- 
gists should have been studying 
the wheat marshes every day for 
all of May and June; my observa- 
tions were sporadic and often in- 
complete, To be able to observe 
the occupation of a previously non- 
existent habitat is a great oppor- 
tunity that should not be wasted. 
Perhaps this article will stimulate 
other amateur and _ professional 
biologists to fill in some of the in- 
formation gaps if such a situation 
should arise again. (I would like 
also to thank Vernon Kleen for his 
valuable advice, information, and 
assistance.) 
fA ff 
A Purple Gallinule Nest in Massac County 
by MIKE HOMOYA 
Naturalist, Heron Pond/Wildcat Bluff Nature Preserve 
On June 19, 1973, Mark Swayne of Herrin, Ill., and I were canoeing along 
the north edge of Lake Mermet, Massac County, Illinois. Along this edge, 
approximately two miles long, exists one of the finest cat-tail lotus marshes 
in southern Illinois. So fine is this area that three Least Bittern (Ixobrychus 
exilis) nests were found by David Hayward of Carbondale earlier this 
summer. 
Mark and I were primarily looking for bitterns, but had not excluded 
the possibility of finding Purple Gallinules (Porphyrula martinica), especial- 
ly since they had been seen at scattered locations throughout the state this 
spring, and that the only existing nesting evidence for this species in 
Illinois was established at this same location during the summer of 1963 
when downy young had been reported. 
