16 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



From the top of the bluff one looks down nearly a hundred feet at the 

 river rippling over its rocky bed. To the north are other rocky points and 

 steep, tree covered hillsides. To the south is the wide valley with the 

 sluggish stream half obstructed by sediment islands. In the morning the 

 long shadow of the great hill on the opposite side of the river darkens the 

 foreground and the light spreads over the active valley in the distance. At 

 noon the sun dazzles up from the broad expanse of water below and in 

 contrast seems to haze the fields and trees half a mile away, yet lights up 

 the opposite rim of the valley far in the distance. At evening the shadows 

 lengthen over the fields from the tree covered ridge in the west ; the river 

 sheen, a broad ribbon between its green banks, reaches into the dusky 

 distance. At all times of day or moonlit night this is one of the beautiful 

 spots of Illinois. The most beautiful outlook, I think, along the beautiful 

 Rock River. 



Ralph E. Blount. 



Ellen Drummond Farwell 



The distribution of privately printed copies of Mrs. Ellen Drummond 

 Farwell's "Bird Observations near Chicago" has earned for her husband, 

 Mr. John V. Farwell of Lake Forest, the grateful appreciation of the many 

 friends of Mrs. Farwell, particularly those who shared with her in her 

 favorite pastime of bird study. Mrs. Farwell was one of the group including 

 her sister, Miss Mary Drummond, and Mr. Ruthven Deane, who organized 

 the Illinois Audubon Society in April, 1897, and she served either as 

 Director or Vice President until her death which occurred August 6, 1912. 

 Her field notes covering a number of years and relating principally to ob- 

 servations in the vicinity of Lake Forest were made with no thought of pub- 

 lication. This enhances instead of detracts from their value. Each bird 

 listed has its own page or succession of pages and the notes follow in 

 chronological sequence. Thus it is that the portrait of each bird grows 

 before the reader very much as it did in the mind of the observer. Best of 

 all, each observation is made as if it were a matter of ethics to set it down 

 with fidelity and without concesssion to what might have been reported else- 

 where and by anyone else. Painstaking observation, accuracy of statement, 

 and abiding love for the birds, characterize these notes. No one can read 

 them without a quickened interest in the study of birds and the preservation 

 of faithful records of field observations. The sincerity and unstudied sim- 

 plicity of Mrs. Farwell's writings reveal even to those who did not know 

 her something of the worth and charm of her personality. The publication 

 of the notes, a labor of love wrought out with the best art of the printer, is 

 a most fitting way to extend the influence of their author. 



The Bluebird 



By Thomas Bailey Aldrich. 



Hark 'tis the bluebird's venturous strain 



High on the old fringed elm at the gate — 



Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying bough. 

 Alert, elate, 



Dodging the fitful spits of snow. 

 New England's poet-laureate 



Telling us Spring has come again ! 



