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The Arctic Three-Toed Woodpecker 

 in Illinois 



While walking by a group of pines on 

 our country place near Glenview, Illinois, 

 about thirty miles northwest of Chicago, 

 I noticed a bird hard at work hunting 

 food at the top of one of these pines. The 

 bird was evidently a Woodpecker, but 

 a kind of Woodpecker I had never before 

 seen. The visitor's sooty-black back and 

 orange-yellow crown proclaimed him new 

 to this region. "Looking him up" dis- 

 closed his identity, the Arctic Three-toed 

 Woodpecker. 



Since that date (September 12) he has 

 been seen nearly every day by many peo- 

 ple. It is not at all difficult for us to 

 know when he is near, for the forceful 

 strokes of his big bill are clearly audible 

 a long way off, and are different from 

 those of any other Woodpecker. That we 

 are honored by his presence is probably 

 explained by the fact that our place has a 

 large number of pines. It is very seldom 

 that he hunts for food on any but pine 

 trees. He braces his six toes firmly 

 against the trunk of a Scotch pine and 

 rips off pieces of the flaky bark. Thus it 

 is easy to tell where he has been at work, 

 for the tree is of a much brighter color on 

 account of this energetic habit. The bird 

 is remarkably tame, and permits his 

 admirers to come within twelve feet of 

 him, seeming to totally disregard their 

 presence. — Robert Redfield, Jr., Chi- 

 cago, III. 



Notes on the Whip-poor-will in 

 Missouri 



May 3, 1903, while strolling at random 

 through a woodland in Lafayette County, 

 I chanced upon a pair of Whip-poor-wills. 

 June 12, I flushed one of the birds in the 

 same place, and, encouraged by her pro- 

 tests, succeeded in scaring up a young one 

 not more than half grown, its dark form, 



bobbed tail, and swift noiseless flight as it 

 hurried away, suggesting a bat. June 15, 

 the parent bird made every effort to 

 decoy me away from the place, but my 

 search for the young bird was unsuccessful. 



June 1, 1904, I found a pair of Whip- 

 poor-wills in the identical spot of the 

 year previous. They stayed there all 

 summer and bred. I visited them several 

 times, always finding the parent bird, but 

 was not fortunate in finding the eggs. 

 June 12, however, I flushed both parent 

 birds and two young ones well grown. All 

 hastened away among the trees on silent 

 wings except one parent bird that re- 

 mained behind to distract my attention. 



My only opportunity of visiting these 

 woods in 1905 was May 2, when curiosity 

 impelled me directly to the former haunt 

 of the Whip-poor-wills, where I immedi- 

 ately found a pair of birds, as in previous 

 years. It might be well to state that this 

 was the only pair of Whip-poor-wills seen 

 in this region during the periods men- 

 tioned, though search was made of all the 

 woods in the surrounding country, and I 

 have speculated much as to whether it was 

 the same pair year after year, or was this 

 particular spot so peculiarly suited to 

 their needs that any pair happening that 

 way in the spring would naturally choose 

 it and settle there for the summer? Be 

 that as it may, I am inclined to think it 

 the same pair, which, true to the homing 

 instinct, returned to their old haunts. 



June 14, 1908, having previously heard 

 the Whip-poor-will in Swope Park, Kan- 

 sas City, I selected a wooded ridge across 

 the eastern part of the park as its probable 

 haunt and began a systematic search. 

 Having covered about half the woodland, 

 on the highest portion of the ridge the 

 familiar brown form lifted from the 

 leaves ahead of me. I searched minutely 

 for eggs or young, all to no purpose. The 

 bird lingered near, sometimes on a tree 

 branch, sometimes on the ground, her 

 wings hanging limp, her body apparently 



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