ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 13 



id the same elm tree all winter. This is the first record 1 have of this bird 

 staying all winter. 1 have seen the species other years as late as the twen- 

 tieth of December and as early as the twentieth of March, but never during 

 January and February. 



The permanent residents have been as numerous as usual. White 

 breasted nuthatches, hairy and downy woodpeckers and a few chickadees 

 have fed off and on in the yard during the entire winter. A few cardinals 

 have been here and for the last week have been whistling most delightfully. 

 We have had at least one robin in the town all winter. From reports it is 

 possible that two or three have been here. I have known this to happen 

 before. Three years ago a robin stayed in the vicinity of a chicken yard all 

 winter taking shelter during the most severe weather in an old shed. 



Other birds that are common now are blue jays, crows, bob whites and 

 sparrow hawks. These hawks have nested for years on a corner of one of 

 the University buildings. They always remain here over winter and 

 frequently fly around half the day, screaming as they fly. 



Miss Alice Jean Patterson. 



Oak Park 



On. the 25th of January. 1920, a naturalist friend and I drove out to 

 the Lake Shore south of Chicago in an endeavor to get a closer view of the 

 ducks on Lake Michigan. We had considerable equipment consisting of a 

 dozen wooden decoys, blankets and a white sheet which was to be thrown 

 over us while we waited for the birds to come to our decoys. We walked 

 out over the ice floes now frozen solidly together a distance of two miles 

 or more. This was no easy task because we encountered some hard walk- 

 ing and were carrying the cumbersome decoys, heavy blankets, etc. I 

 climbed to the top of a large mass of ice and found open water far ahead 

 with here and there a flock of ducks. As we came closer, though still at 

 considerable distance, flight after flight of ducks left us going farther out 

 into Lake Michigan. We finally reached the margin of the ice and saw 

 a small flock of Lesser Scaups settled far out from shore. 



We halted to construct a rude blind out of ice to conceal ourselves 

 from view. We made things as comfortable as possible, placing our 

 blankets on the ice and throwing the white sheets over us to conceal our 

 movements. Hardly had we been comfortably settled w r hen seven large 

 Saw-Bills or American Mergansers settled down just outside our decoys. 

 They were satisfied with their wooden friends and seemed at ease. These 

 birds are certainly beautiful with their bright green heads and snow-white 

 feathers. Soon I noticed a flock of nearly a hundred birds high overhead. 

 They were calling in their peculiar manner and making a great deal of 

 noise with their wings. I knew immediately that they were Old-Squaws. 

 They circled, coming lower in their noisy way, and soon were on the water 

 just outside the decoys. A minute passed and eleven Hooded Mergansers 

 came in with a rush and alighted on the water not twenty feet away. The 

 drakes were a beautiful sight with a large crest of feathers on their heads. 

 These birds have a peculiar habit of giving grunting sounds to one another. 

 While I was watching these birds my partner whispered an inquiry about 

 some peculiarly marked birds that had just settled down near the American 

 Mergansers. I looked in that direction and found them to be Harlequins, 

 three drakes and one female. I have seen these birds every vear but never 



