524 Eifrig, Birds of the Chicago Area. [q^ 



rare species here. We saw two May 27, 1917, in a tract of moist woods, 

 near where the Desplaines River and Drainage Canal meet. 



Mimus p. polyglottos. Mockingbird. — Since the one we saw near 

 my house May 18, 1916, I have seen no more, nor have 1 heard of others 

 having seen them. 



Cistothorus stellaris. Short-billed Marsh Wren. — What may 

 almost be called a nesting colony of them is located at Mineral Springs, in 

 the Dunes, in the same large swale where the Marsh Hawk and Henslow's 

 Sparrow are common. May 20, 1916, I saw about fifty there; their 

 song resembles the syllables psit tsit tsit, ending in a sharp, rapid trill, 

 which sounds like the knocking together of pebbles. The Prairie Marsh 

 Wren ( Telmatodytes palustris iliacus) is abundant in all larger sloughs and 

 ponds. 



Sitta carolinensis carolinensis. White-breasted Nuthatch. — 

 This species seems decidedly on the decrease in numbers. The last two or 

 three years I have seen them two or three times only each year. 



Bseolophus bicolor. Tufted Titiyjouse. — This Carolinian species 

 is common enough 40-50 miles south of Chicago, but nearer the city it is 

 rare. It seems to make short, rambling flights north of its breeding range 

 in winter. I have seen it in River Forest, Riverside, Cary on the Fox 

 River, and Millers, Indiana. 



Penthestes a. atricapillus. Chickadee. — At Mineral Springs, 

 Indiana, I have repeatedly seen this species, as well as Dryobates pubescens 

 medianus, attacking the cattail stalks of the previous season, which proba- 

 bly contained larvae of r^ome kind. 



Regulus c. calendula. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. — In the cold spring 

 of 1917 this species stayed here in numbers until May 17, and their fine 

 song could be heard daily. The Golden-crowned stayed about as late too. 



Sialia s. sialis. Bluebird. — This most attractive member of our avi- 

 fauna 1 have found nowhere so abundant as, I am happy to say, near my 

 home in River Forest. And this both as breeder or migrant. A nesting 

 box in my garden has been occupied every year since put up, and one or 

 two broods raised. In migration there are sometimes as many as twenty- 

 five of them in my garden alone, which is only 100 by 100 feet, but con- 

 tains two bird baths. Only at Cumberland, Maryland, have ] ever found 

 them so abundant during migration as here. 



