58 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Accompanying Mr. Gault's notes was a letter in which he stated that 

 he had tried to make it a complete breeding list of the birds of our state. 

 A few names could have been left off altogether perhaps, but in order to 

 make it a finished job it was thought best to let them go in. The nesting 

 data for a great many of our birds is far from being complete and neces- 

 sitates more or less speculation as to their probable breeding ranges. 

 In other words, we are considerably in need of more accurate details and 

 much might be attempted along these lines. 



It is hardly necessary to remind readers of the Bulletin that of the 

 names of birds on the check list, by far the most significant are those of 

 the nesting birds. The occurrence within an area of a visitant rightly 

 excites interest because of the very casualness of the visit, but one's abiding 

 interest should be in the birds that nest and prove their worth within the 

 limits of one's area. For this reason the annotations on the following 

 list should be of great value. For example, a resident of Southern Illinois 

 by looking for those names in the list marked with an asterisk can at once 

 select from the greater list for the whole state those in whose life history 

 he is more vitally concerned, and he can have the authority of Mr. Ridgway 

 for his selection. Similarly those living in Central Illinois have but 

 to look for names marked with a dagger and they have Mr. Hess' list which 

 he checked off for himself in a typical corn-belt county. The initial letter 

 N. represents Mr. Gault's special contribution for bird students of Northern 

 Illinois. It is of interest to compare Mr. Gault's lists for Central and 

 Southern Illinois marked with the initial letters C. and S., with those 

 of Hess and Ridgeway distinguished by asterisks and dagger marks. One 

 list usually corroborates another but not always. As in the preparation of 

 the lists none of these gentlemen conferred with the others, each will 

 doubtless be as interested in this composite list as will be the general 

 readers. It is hoped that these lists will stimulate a wider interest in 

 the study of bird populations, nesting dates and occurrences, etc., and 

 that the records, additions, and revisions occasioned by this study will be 

 sent in to this Bulletin for future publication. 



Explanatory. 



The initial letters, N, C, S, refer respectively to Northern, Central 

 and Southern Illinois. Where no such initial letter appears there is no 

 record of the species breeding in Illinois, and such species are pure migrants 

 or occasional visitants. The asterisks mark birds as nesting in Southern 

 Illinois, the double asterisks referring especially to Richland County. The 

 dagger mark refers to Central Illinois, the special reference being to 

 Champaign County. The order in which the names appear is that of the 

 AOU check list employed by all ornithologists. In using this check list 

 many of our readers, like the editor, may find it more convenient to begin 

 at the end of the list where the more common birds appear and work 

 backwards. 



The abbreviation S. R. refers to summer residents. 



