General Notes 419 



dence in Illinois. I thought that abundance of earth worms, owing 

 to the unusually rainy summer we had, had something to do with 

 it. But, alas for theories ! At Arlington Heights, about a dozen 

 miles away, they have been so rare this summer that competent 

 observers say, they did not see one in five or six weeks. 



At Gary our camp is within a few yards of the edge of a marsh. 

 Here one can easily make notes on the voices of the marsh heard 

 at night. Beside the clucking and cackling of coots, gallinules and 

 rails the Prairie Marsh Wren (Telmatodytes palustris iliaca) sings 

 spasmodically at least till one o'clock. The Warbling Vireo nest- 

 ing nearby also puts in a few notes from time to time, as if talking 

 in his dreams. 



On July 3d, a Bob-white came in the open spaces near my home 

 and called out loudly, the only one I have seen or heard here this 

 year. Too bad that this fine bird is becoming so rare ! Also one 

 only is the sum total of Rufired Grouse seen by me. This was at 

 Miller, Ind., in the sand dune region, where the abundance of wild 

 fruit and underbrush and absence of the genus homo furnish this 

 fine primeval denizen of our woods a chance to subsist. 



G. ElFKIO. 



River Forest, 111. 



