Ecological Investigation Of Common And Purple Gallinules On Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana
Ecological observations of gallinules on Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge from 1 April 1975 through 28 February 1976 indicate common gallinules (Gallinula chloropus) arrive earlier and begin nesting before purple gallinules (Porphyrula martinica). Eleven nests of common gallinules, characteristically positioned low in the vegetation and con· structed of bulltongue (Saggitaria lanci/olia), contained an average of 8.1 eggs. The more elevated nest of the purple gallinule contained an average of 4.5 eggs, in a sample size of 12, and was constructed primarily of maidencane (Panicum hemitomon...
