ORNITHOLOCIGAL NOTES FROM THE CHICAGO AREA 47 



in Indiana; the great swamp and slough region along the "Sag," 

 south of the city; the prairies with their moraine woods and 

 swamps west; as well as the Desplaines and parts of the Fox 

 Rivers; the great Skokie Marsh and the lake shore with its pine 

 barrens north of Chicago. Probably in no spot of similar area can 

 more species of birds be seen and studied under such favorable 

 conditions as in Jackson and Lincoln Parks, where not only the 

 land birds, among them some rare migrants, but the water-birds 

 as well, annually pass in review before the beholder, and it may 

 be added that Woodcock, Prairie Chicken, wild Mongolian Pheas- 

 ants, etc. may yet be seen within the city limits. These are just 

 a few random notes and observations, and do not pretend to cover 

 the whole region, but are from a few localities within it. 



The year 19 16 opened in an unusual, if not startling manner, 

 there being peals of thunder heard on January 1st. Flocks of Canada 

 Geese (Branta Canadensis) may in January be seen or heard pass- 

 ing to and fro overhead. During the day they stay near the edge 

 of the ice, out in the lake, and toward evening or at night they 

 resort to the cornfields in the prairie part, west of the city, to 

 return to their icy station in the early morning. When there are 

 east winds with their frequent accompaniment of rain and sleet, 

 numerous Herring and Ring-billed Gulls wing their way over 

 the western suburbs, into the prairie part, which then assumes a 

 more or less lake-like aspect in places. Prairie Horned Larks 

 (Otocorys a. praiicola) roam over the weedy fields in small compact 

 flocks, but on January 26th one of a pair was heard singing. The 

 former are no doubt visitants from farther north, while the latter 

 are locally remaining permanent residents of the species. On 

 February 14th I saw two males, at least I took them for such, 

 fighting over a female, standing nearby in an apparently unin- 

 terested manner. So early does this species start its mating activi- 

 ties. Nests are occasionally found the first week in March, often 

 surrounded by snow. On February 22nd, Washington's birthday, 

 temperature 50 , I saw along the Desplaines River the first 

 Bluebirds, two, also three Song Sparrows, a Killdeer and about 

 ten Mongolian or Ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus torquatus). 

 The presence of the first three species shows again the influence 

 on migration of a mild wave of weather. Normally these three 

 species are seen at River Forest, where the writer lives, between 

 the 10th and 15th of March, but that week of unusually mild 



