Davee Ue DU BO Ne (BaUtiak Mulan 25 
TWO NEW BIRD BOOKLETS ON MARKET 
New booklets of value to bird lovers and breeders include ‘‘Landscap- 
ing for Birds,’’ available from the Audubon Naturalist Society of Cen- 
tral Atlantic States, and ‘Propagation of Captive Waterfowl,’’ published 
by the Wildlife Management Institute. 
The former booklet is aimed at helping homeowners attract a 
variety of birds and mammals to their yards, includes basic land-_ 
scaping principles and recommends trees, shrubs that attract wildlife. 
At $2 per copy, $11.25 for 10 or $1.05 per copy for larger amounts, 
send to: Audubon Naturalist Society, 8940 Jones Mill Rd., Washington 
De 20045: 
Latter publication details waterfowl propagation techniques de- 
veloped over 43 years at Delta Waterfowl Research Station; it stresses 
how to produce a bird as near in behavior and appearance to its wild 
counterpart as possible. Copies are $1 each from: Wildlife Manage- 
ment Institute, 709 Wire Bldg., 1000 Vermont Ave. NW, WACO Aeon 
D.C. 20005. 
We were really surprised when we suddenly flushed a large bird from 
the marsh which turned out to be a Purple Gallinule. More unexpected, 
though, was that we had flushed the bird from its nest which contained 
eight eggs. Knowing that this was a rare discovery for Illinois, we did not 
want it to be unduly disturbed by visiting bird watchers or collectors and 
therefore elected to keep the discovery “quiet” for a few days. Later we 
decided to contact Vernon Kleen, non-game wildlife biologist with the 
Department of Conservation. 
Vern agreed to come down the following veel .to observe the nest 
and verify our identification. He arrived Thursday afternoon, June 28, and 
joined Mark, Loyal Mehrhoff, and me on a return visit to the nest. We 
checked the nest twice, photographed it, and spent two hours in the area, 
but did not find-the gallinules. Vern decided to check the area again the 
following morning and after sitting patiently on a log about 25 feet from 
the nest for two hours, he saw the bird as it returned to the nest. 
When we checked the nest again on July 12 it was.empty. Hopefully, 
the eggs had hatched and the young were somewhere with the adults out in 
the marsh. We were not able to find them again at that time. 
It is quite apparent that these birds are extremely shy and very difti- 
cult to observe; we were quite fortunate to have discovered the nest, 
probably the first nest record for this species in Ilinois. 
We soon learned that, because of pressure from fishermen, the lake 
had been scheduled for management through planned spraying of herbi- 
cides in order to reduce the spread of aquatic vegetation. Another call to 
Vernon Kleen, who then contacted several other people, ended the close 
call for the Mermet marsh. John Schwegman, natural areas specialist for 
the state, is now attempting to have this area set aside as a dedicated 
nature preserve. Hopefully, with this action, the Purple Gallinules will 
continue to nest and flourish here for many years to come. 
