407 
WINTER BIRDS PER SQUARE MILE IN Groups oF HABITATS 
Southern. Central Northern 
Open fields 626 357 402 
Woods, waste and or- 
_chards - 13880 1112 680 1153 
Shrubbery, yards and : 
e 
ae _ 1768 8593 7849 2676 
The corn field in winter ‘cvdbdtly presents a less dreary aspect to 
_ birds than to man, as is shown by our state average of nearly 500 birds 
to the square mile in that situation. To a winter bird what we call a 
es field may often seem to be rather a field of weeds, mainly seed- 
bearing grasses of the kinds which are likely to take possession, espe- 
_ cially in a wet season, after the corn is “laid by.” Comparing the corn- 
_ field ratios of birds with the winter averages for all habitats we find 
them only half as large in northern Illinois (211 in corn to 420 for 
the whole area), a little larger in central Illinois (482 to 440) and 65 
_ per cent. larger in southern Illinois (1384 to 836). The high ratio in 
Saher Illinois corn fields was mainly due to flocks of juncos, ranging 
in number of birds from 3 to 24, only 4 of the 133 corn-field juncos 
recorded having been single birds; to equally large flocks of meadow- 
larks in corn fields (3 to 36 in numbers, only 2 of 134 of these birds 
_ shaving been seen singly), and to one flock of 74 mourning doves. Next 
to these dominant species came quails in two covies of 18 and 27 each, 
crows, solitary or only 2 to 5 together, red-headed woodpeckers, single 
of course, and tree sparrows in one flock of 8 but otherwise scattered. 
s In central Illinois the crow was the dominant species in our corn 
_ field records, mainly however, by reason of two large flocks, one of 44 
and another with an estimated number of 400.* The next in order of 
_ prominence was the English sparrow, but with a number per square 
mile only half the general winter average of the species for the state 
(41 to 81). An interesting minor item is the occurrence of twenty 
a cardinals in corn, a much larger number than in any other central 
Illinois situation, and nearly twice as large as was found in the corn 
fields of southern Illinois. 
a In the northern part of the state the leading species were the Lap- 
land longspur, mainly 2 to 4 in a place but with one flock of 38, and a 
- flock of 55 goldfinches. 
* 
= 
* These were seen December 18 in fields which were probably not yet husked, = 
and the crows were very likely helping themselves to corn kernels from the tips of 
the ears. To the larger grain-eating birds, husked and unhusked corn fields are 
of course very different habitats, but unfortunately our field notes contain no 
records of this distinction. 
