1911 J Smith, Double-crested Cormorants Breeding in Cent. III. 1 "i 



Carr (1890) as authority for the statement that they breed about 

 some of the larger isolated lakes in the northern and central part 

 of the State. No reference has been found by the writer to their 

 breeding in Illinois but there is pretty good evidence that they 

 have bred in small numbers more or less regularly for several 

 years in the Illinois River bottomlands near Havana, the site of 

 the Illinois Biological Station. The breeding locality is about 

 thirty miles south of Peoria. 



The writer first learned of cormorants nesting there, on June 18, 

 1909, when in company with a party of naturalists of the State he 

 was shown a family of living young birds pretty well grown which 

 with the nest had been brought to Havana from the vicinity of 

 Clear Lake, about twelve miles up the river. We were told that 

 there were other nests with young in the same locality. Mr. 

 Frank C. Baker of the Chicago Academy of Science secured the 

 specimens and took them to Chicago where the photograph which 

 is the original of an accompanying illustration was made by Mr. 

 F. M. Woodruff. 



In July, 1910, the writer, in company with Professor Charles F. 

 Hottes of the botanical department of the University of Illinois, 

 visited each of the only two nesting places which we could locate. 

 We found a total of nine nests of which two contained eggs and 

 none had nestling birds. We learned that at least one set of eggs 

 had been taken by a fisherman earlier in the summer. 



The opening of the Chicago Drainage Canal about ten years ago 

 has been followed by permanently higher water levels in the lower 

 part of the Illinois River valley and many former bottomland 

 marshes and swamps have been converted into wide stretches of 

 open water. This has been accompanied by the death of many of 

 the trees growing at certain levels. In both of the nesting places 

 visited, the birds had selected dead trees which were standing in 

 open water a few feet deep and from which the open water with 

 scattering dead trees extended for long distances in various direc- 

 tions. 



The first nesting place visited was at Clear Lake, about twelve 

 miles north of Havana and in the same vicinity as that from which 

 the young birds had been taken the preceding summer. At the 

 time of the visit, July 2, 1910, two dead ash trees but a few rods 



