ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 13 



over. The third time we missed the main flock, only seeing four, which 

 we scared oul of their sleeping quarters for the night in dense junipers, as 

 it was getting dark on that short December day. On November 30th we 

 also saw two Pine Grosbeaks, which arc even rarer here. December 27th 

 we added about twenty-five Redpolls to our list. All three species breed 

 far north in Canada. To show what is possible in this region, where the 

 north and south meet, and where, usually at this time, but few species of 

 birds can be seen in most places in this latitude I will list what additional 

 species we saw: Herring (kills. Red-breasted Mergansers, one Hooded 

 Merganser, one Rough-legged Hawk, Crows. Blue Jays. Bronzed Crackles. 

 Juncos, Tree Sparrows. Cardinals, Red-headed Woodpeckers, one Downy 

 Woodpecker. White-breasted Nuthatches. Chickadees, and one Tufted 

 Titmouse. Frogs were still piping on December 21st, showing the mildness 

 of the season until then, and still the northern visitors were there. They 

 may be looked for in other places of our region, all the more since the 

 weather has now turned colder. The Evening Grosbeaks are extremely 

 fond of the seeds of box-elder or ash-leaved maple, the Pine Grosbeaks 

 prefer mountain-ash berries, pine seeds and buds, and the Redpolls, seeds 

 of birch, alder and also weeds. Who will add the Crossbills and the 

 Bohemian Waxwing to the list?" 



The western border of our state is represented by Quincy. Mr. T. E. 

 Musselman writes from there: "During my Sunday trips thruout the 

 winter I have never failed to record less than fifty Redbirds (Cardinals). 

 They began singing January 7. Our winter has been mild enough to allow 

 Kingfishers to remain. For four Sundays of December and January I have 

 recorded several. Quail have wintered well. During the heavy December 

 snow I disturbed a covey one afternoon at 5. I slid down a steep bank 

 where a bush heavily overhanging with its weight of snow made an excel- 

 lent cover. Beneath this a covey had gathered for the night. 1 found 

 their tracks in an adjacent corn field and found that they had not lacked 

 for food as they had clustered about the occasional ear that squirrels had 

 dragged from the shocks and deserted. Many good coveys are in evidence. 

 "The Quincy Country Club has just leased, for forty years, a one 

 hundred-acre tract for golf purposes. It has allowed the land to be made 

 a bird sanctuary and the landscape gardening and planting will be to 

 produce cover and food for our bird friends." 



From Olney in Southern Illinois Mr. Ridgwav writes: "The dominant 

 fact is that there are far fewer birds this winter than last, notwithstanding 

 the latter was far colder, in fact the coldest ever known here. Today a 

 beautiful adult white-crowned sparrow has been feeding with the juncos. 

 cardinals, etc. Last winter we had seventeen cardinals, this winter only 

 nine ! and a pretty sight it was to see the beautiful white-crown, a male 

 cardinal and a junco feeding close together but in perfect peace under an 

 upturned cheese-box lid which, fastened to the top of a short post, served 

 as a feeding table. A discordant note was later added by the addition of an 

 English sparrow to the group. 



"Yesterday (January 4th) Mrs. Ridgwav called my attention to a strange 

 bird, the sight of which at first fairly startled me, for 1 had never seen one 

 like it before but a nearer view showed it to be a partial albino of the 



