56 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Island County, Illinois. Several bird walks were taken through the near-by fields, 

 pastures, timber and brush land. 



Birds seen during December, 1915, and January, 1916: Bobwhite, common; 

 Marsh Hawk, one seen December 26, 27 and 28, was chasing some Bobwhites which 

 took refuge in a hedge fence. Cooper's Hawk, rare during the winter; Rough-legged 

 Hawk, common, not here when the snow was deep ; Bald Eagle, one seen flying over 

 on December 29 ; Screech Owl, common ; Great horned Owl, common ; Hairy Wood- 

 pecker, common; Downy Woodpecker, common; Red-headed Woodpecker — three re- 

 mained over winter, two stayed in some woods one-half mile north, and one in 

 the timber two miles south of where we live; Red-bellied Woodpecker, common; 

 Northern Flicker, two seen December 26; Prairie Horned Lark here whenever the 

 ground was bare; Blue Jay, common; Crow, common; Meadowlark, one stayed here 

 near-by all winter; Tree Sparrow, abundant; Junco, abundant; Song Sparrow, one 

 seen January 30; Cardinal, tolerably common; Brown Creeper, rare during the winter; 

 White-breasted Nuthatch, common ; Tufted Titmouse, rare permanent resident ; Chick- 

 adee, common. Total, 24 species. 



Birds seen during December, 1916 and January, 1917 : Merganser, flock of 

 about 100, flying over, December 2; Bobwhite, common; Mourning Dove, 1, 

 December 1 ; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1, December 17, seen flying from the ground 

 and carrying a bird about the size of a Bobwhite; Cooper's Hawk, 1, December 

 11; Red-shouldered Hawk, 1, December 31; Rough-legged Hawk, here all winter; 

 Barred Owl, 1, December 25; Screech Owl, common; Great-horned Owl, com- 

 mon; Hairy Woodpecker, common; Downy Woodpecker, common; Red-bellied Wood- 

 pecker, common ; Prairie Horned Lark, here all winter ; Blue Jay, common ; Crow, 

 common ; Purple Finch, four females, December 10 ; Redpoll, first seen November 

 5, then none were seen until December 17, after which they were here near-by every 

 day this winter. Some days a flock of about 50 came into the garden; Goldfinch, 

 last seen December 10; Tree Sparrow, abundant; Junco, abundant; Cardinal, com- 

 mon ; Brown Creeper, rare ; White-breasted Nuthatch, common ; Tufted Titmouse, 

 rare ; Chickadee, common. Total, 26 species. 



For feeding the birds we have two suet holders fastened to the south side of 

 two posts at the south end of our vineyard, and about forty feet from one of the 

 kitchen windows. About a foot below one of the suet holders, we fastened a shelf, 

 on which we put cracked walnuts and butternuts every morning. Last winter we 

 scattered ground popcorn and sweetcorn on the ground for the Tree Sparrows and 

 Juncos. This winter we used ground corn. We also fastened a few ears of corn 

 to the tops of some of the posts in the vineyard for the Cardinals. 



The same birds that came to our feeding station during the winter of 1915 and 

 1916 came again this winter, and were as follows: Hairy Woodpecker, 3; Downy 

 Woodpecker, one pair; Red-bellied Woodpecker, one pair; Blue Jay, 3; Tree Sparrow,, 

 first winter, a few, second winter, many ; Junco, first winter, many, second winter, 

 large flock ; Cardinal, 3 ; White-breasted Nuthatch, one pair ; Chickadee, 4. 



All of the birds were very fond of the cracked walnuts and butternuts. The 

 Nuthatches and Chickadees would carry off all the loose kernels, the Woodpeckers 

 and Blue Jays ate at the large pieces of shell in which there were yet kernels, and 

 the Juncos and Tree Sparrows would eat the fine crumbs. Sometimes when the 

 Woodpeckers were eating suet, the Juncos and Tree Sparrows would watch for the 

 crumbs that fell upon the feeding shelf and the ground. This winter several of the 

 Juncos learned to hang on the suet holders like a Chickadee does sometimes, and 

 eat suet. The Cardinals, Blue Jays, and also sometimes the Woodpeckers, would 

 take kernels from the ears of corn which were fastened to the tops of the posts. 



During the latter part of April, and the fore part of May, 1916, several Chipping 

 Sparrows, and one Catbird came to the feeding shelf to eat walnut kernels and 

 crumbs. About the 10th of April, 1916, a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers took 

 possession of our feeding station, and chased all the other Woodpeckers away. They 

 were especially vicious toward the Red-bellied Woodpeckers. During January, Febru- 

 ary and March, 1916, whenever there was snow on the ground, a flock of Bobwhites 

 came to our garden, where we fed them corn at the north end of the vineyard. This 

 winter not a single Bobwhite came on the place, but several of our neighbors reported 

 having flocks come to their barnyards when the snow was deep. 



The Redpolls, which were here all winter, would never eat at our feeding place. 

 They were often seen sitting on the pear trees near the feeding station, but they would 

 never fly down on the ground where the Juncos and Tree Sparrows were eating. I 

 saw them quite often in the pastures, eating ragweed seed. 



March 24, 1917. J. J. Schafer, Port Byron, 111. 



