THE OOLOGIST 



325 



first set of eggs is taken, the mother 

 invariably lays a second set, so their 

 extermination may be far off. 



Ottomer Reinecke. 

 Buffalo, X. Y. 



We are indebted to Mr. Reinecke for 

 the use of plates illustrating this ar- 

 ticle.— Ed. 



Breeding Birds of Marshall Co., III. 



In the Ornithologist and Oologist, 

 Vol. xv, Page 113 (August, 1890) I 

 published a carefully prepared "List 

 of Birds Breeding in Marshall Co., 

 !'linois." 



Xow, 22 years later, I desire as the 

 result of those years of experience 

 and observation to supplement that 

 list arid to amend the same in the fol- 

 lowing particulars, that it may be 

 brought down to date and made as ab- 

 solutely accurate as possible. Twen- 

 ty-two years is a long span and part 

 of the breeding season of every one 

 of these years was spent by me in the 

 field within this county. Many changes 

 have worked amongst the birds and 

 some new species added. The change?; 

 that I desire to make in this list are: 



No. 131, Hooded Merganser, (Laph- 

 odytes cucullatus). An article publish- 

 ed by me in The Oologist, Vol. No. 3 

 (March, 1912) details all the new dis 

 coveries with relation to this species 

 to date. 



No. 132, Mallard. (Anas boschas). 

 Several sets of the eggs of this species 

 have been taken within the county 

 since 1890. 



Xo. 144, Wood Duck. (Aix sponsa). 

 Rapidly becoming a very rare breeder 

 — now but a few pairs nest within the 

 county where formerly there were hun- 

 dreds. 



Xo. 149, Lesser Scaup Duck. (Marila 

 affinis). This bird even yet rare oc- 

 casionally remains to nest here. I 

 have seen the young. 



No. 194, Great Blue Heron. (Ardea 



herodias herodias). There is but one 

 small herony left within the county, of 

 probably a couple of dozen pairs. It 

 won't last long. The Chicago Sani- 

 tary District Water has killed the 

 larger trees in the river bottoms and 

 they have no place to nest. 



Xo. 196, Egret. (Herodias egretta). 

 Xot now seen in the county at all. 

 Formerly migrated by here in Thous- 

 ands and a few nested with us. Xot 

 one seen here in the past five years. 

 The last known nests near here were 

 in a larger herony of the Great Blue 

 Heron. There were about a half dozen 

 nests of this species, located at the 

 head of Hennepin Lake ten miles 

 north of the Marshall County line. All 

 the birds were killed by plume hunt- 

 ers in 1907. 



Xo. 206, Sandhill Crane (Grus mexi- 

 cana). A pair of this species for a 

 number of years between 1830 and 

 1850 bad their nest on the farm now 

 owned by my cousin, 1% miles north 

 and one-half mile east of the present 

 Washburn School house. This is at- 

 tested to by two of my uncles who 

 lived on an adjoining farm, knew the 

 birds well and saw both old and young 

 birds and likewise saw and described 

 the eggs to me so accurately there can 

 be no question as to the authenticity 

 of the record. 



Xo. 208, King Rail (Rallus elegans). 

 This bird I have ascertained to be a 

 common breeder here. I have taken 

 numerous sets of its eggs. 



Xo. 212, Virginia Rail (Rallus vir- 

 ginianus). This is a rare breeder here. 

 Win. E. Loucks, formerly of Peoria, 

 111., and now of San Francisco, Cal., 

 photographed and took a set of nine 

 eggs while the writer was present in 

 the southern part of the county, May 

 7th, 1899. A half tone photo of this 

 nest and eggs may be seen by turn- 

 ing to The Oologist Vol. XXVI, Page 



1 IN 



