38 



THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



In the Spring Bulletin of one year ago, 

 reference was made to an article in Bird- 

 Lore for March- April, 1916 by Gilbert 

 Grosvenor, editor of the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine who wrote about bird 

 life on his , farm in Montgomery County, 

 Maryland, about ten miles from Wash- 

 ington. Mr. Grosvenor found fifty-nine 

 pairs of birds with young or eggs in the 

 nest on one acre adjacent to the house 

 or barn on his farm. The readers of this 

 Bulletin are once more advised to emulate 

 Mr. Grosvenor's example by placing nest- 

 ing boxes, feeding stations, etc., about 

 their homes, furnishing building material, 

 (Pieces of oiled paper, string, puddles of 

 mud, etc.) bird baths, etc., and by fight- 

 ing off English Sparrows and cats. They 

 are also requested to furnish in due time 

 a detailed report of success or failures 

 with nesting boxes and comments thereon. 

 This will be of decided value for our Fall- 

 Winter Bulletin. 



The Publication Committee of the 

 Illinois Audubon Society might as well 

 admit at the outset that it is proud of 

 the co-operation from so many sources 

 that has made this Spring Bulletin pos- 

 sible. It considers it a praiseworthy feat 

 to introduce the Ozarks of Southern Illi- 

 nois to Illinoisans in general, and for this 

 special acknowledgment is due Mr. Clar- 

 ence Bonnell of Harrisburg, who writes 

 from a full knowledge of that picturesque 

 and historic region. Then there is the 

 check list of birds of Illinois with special 

 reference to those nesting within the 

 borders of the State. This is surely an 

 achievement of the first rank since it 

 is the outcome of the separate efforts 

 of Ridgway and Gault and Hess and em- 

 bodies their critical and authoritative 

 judgment. This list, as Mr. Gault sug- 

 gests elsewhere, is somewhat tentative ow- 

 ing to insufficient data relating to the 

 life history of a number of the birds, 

 but this rather gives it added interest. 

 Here is a chance to check up one's area 

 of observation and also, it may be, to fur- 



nish important data for the revision of 

 the list itself. 



Special mention, likewise, might be 

 made of the many field notes that appear 

 in this issue. Coming as they have, not 

 only from experienced observers but also 

 from those whose keenness of interest 

 makes up in part for lack of experience, 

 these notes have all been welcomed and 

 printed in the alphabetical order of the 

 localities. Naturally there may be errors 

 in observation where the best of intent 

 to be accurate is evident. For such errors, 

 of course the Bulletin disclaims respon- 

 sibility. It is simply suggested that criti- 

 cisms and corrections be sent in to the 

 Bulletin and that observers correspond 

 with one another in an endeavor to check 

 up and test their lists. The outcome of 

 such correspondence would no doubt be 

 valuable material for a succeeding issue 

 of this Bulletin. 



sfc :jc >j; 



The Spring shooting season as defined 

 by the laws of Illinois has come and gone. 

 These laws provide for an open season 

 for wild fowl from February 15 to March 

 31, and, as all our readers know, are in 

 conflict with the Federal regulations 

 which prohibit all Spring shooting. While 

 in many places in Illinois the Federal 

 regulations were respected during the 

 weeks just past, there is little doubt that 

 over large areas no attention was paid to 

 them. When a hunter was reminded of 

 the illegality of Spring shooting, he in- 

 variably produced his state license to 

 justify his sport. This unfortunate con- 

 flict between Federal and State laws is, 

 let us hope, nearing an end. As this Bul- 

 letin goes to press, Senate Bill No. 542, 

 containing among other provisions, one 

 making the laws of Illinois conform to the 

 Federal regulations is about to come up 

 for second reading. This provision of 

 the bill should be the special concern of 

 Audubonites and every legislator should 

 be urged to support it. 

 * * * 



During the interval mentioned above 

 when the Federal regulations were being 



