196 Bird - Lore 



(c) Species ousted by the English Sparrow. 



Cliff Swallow {Pelrochelidon lunifrons). — Formerly abundant, large 

 colonies attaching their retort-shaped nests underneath overhanging eaves of 

 barns, warehouses, and other large buildings, but apparently has wholly dis- 

 appeared. 



Barn Swallow (Hirundo erythrogastra) . — Almost totally expelled by the 

 Sparrow, great numbers of which have appropriated every nesting-site in the 

 barns and other outbuildings. 



Purple Martin (Progne subis). — Mostly driven from towns and farms by 

 the Sparrow, the large trees containing cavities that are left being too few in 

 number to accommodate more than a small percentage of the number that 

 formerly occurred. 



Bluebird {Sialia sialis). — This also has been mainly displaced by the 

 Sparrow, which has appropriated nearly all cavities suitable for nesting-places. 



(d) Expelled by the House Wren. 



Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewicki). — The first House Wren ever seen 

 or heard by me in southeastern Illinois was noted in the vicinity of Olney, 

 some time near the year 1870, but I have no record of the exact date. It had 

 not appeared at Mt. Carmel as late as 1878, when Mr. Brewster and I col- 

 lected there. Bewick's Wren was the 'house Wren' of the entire region, and 

 was so abundant that practically every home where there were out-buildings 

 (especially if more or less dilapidated ones) possessed its pair of these charming 

 birds. To what extent the House Wren has displaced Bewick's at Mt. Carmel 

 I do not know, my last visit there being in 1890, at which time I do 

 not remember having seen it. In the vicinity of Olney, the House Wren is 

 now by far the more numerous of the two, especially in the town itself; and, 

 wherever it has chosen a home, Bewick's Wren is forced out, for Troglo- 

 dytes will not brook the presence of any other species — Wren, Chickadee, 

 Titmouse or Nuthatch — which requires similar nesting-sites. Thryomanes, 

 on the other hand, is exceedingly tolerant of other species, and therefore is 

 far the more desirable bird, especially since it is equally tame and a far better 

 songster, its song recalling that of the Song Sparrow, though at its best, even 

 finer. 



(e) Decrease from unknown causes. 



DiCKCisSEL (Spiza americana). — A marked decrease in this species was 

 first noted by me during the summer of 1885, when it was so scarce that I 

 could not find in the entire county as many specimens as were present the 

 previous summer in almost any large meadow. Since that date, the species 

 has varied in relative abundance from year to year, but has never reached more 

 than one-fourth, and usually barely more than one-tenth, its normal numbers ; 

 and during the summers of 1913 and 19 14 could onl^ be found sparingly and 



