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Poling on the Wringillidce of Western Illinois. [ July 



NOTES' ON THE FRINGILLID^ OF WESTERN 

 ILLINOIS. 



BY OTHO C. POLING. 



In presenting a paper on the family Fringillidse it had heen 

 my intention to include only those species of rare occurrence 

 which had come under my observation, but as my notes have in- 

 creased considerably within the past three seasons I shall, for the 

 sake of completeness, cover the entire family, and consider in par- 

 ticular the rarer Sparrows and Finches. Adams County, where 

 the material for these notes was gathered almost entirely, is situated 

 on the the Mississippi River, west of the centre of the State, the 

 40th parallel running through its centre. The bottom lands ex- 

 tending north and south through its western portion vary in width 

 from two to six miles, except in the immediate vicinity of Quincy 

 where the bluffs closely approach the river. A large part of 

 these lowlands are free from cultivation, being frequently over- 

 flowed. Numerous lakes and sloughs and large tracts of swamp 

 land are interspersed through this territory, and while there are 

 vast tracts of heavy timber, much of it is grown up with reeds and 

 rushes or covered with rank grass and weeds. Willows are 

 everywhere found in abundance, often tracts of many miles 

 being covered by them. Among the bluffs, and to the east, the 

 country is somewhat hilly or undulating, and is drained by num- 

 erous large and rapid creeks. Here also is found a great variety 

 of timber. Lima Lake, which will be referred to occasionally, is 

 in the northwest part of the County. It covers a dozen or 

 fifteen square miles, and is usually very shallow. 



1. Coccothraustes vespertina. Evening Grosbeak. — Irregular in its 

 appearance but frequently seen in Illinois. Specimens were observed in 

 the winter of 18S7. (See 'Ornifhologist and Oologist', March, 1SS9.) 

 A small flock of six or seven individuals were seen on April 1, 1S89. Thev 

 were at rest in the top of a soft maple, and had evidently been feeding on 

 the buds during the morning as numbers of them were scattered upon the 

 fresh snow beneath the trees. While at Champaign, 111., I met with a 

 flock of seven or eight males of this species on Nov. 12, 18S9. They were 

 well concealed among the branches of some willows still green with 

 foliage, and I was only attracted by their loud, sharp notes. I secured but 



