ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 45 



dead trees which oiler an abundance of food. A hay shed that lias only 

 two closed ends and a roof has a large quantity of hay seed on the Moor. 

 A Mourning Dove has been living in this barn ever since the winter has 

 set in. I have taken W-vd in several times but 1 imagine most of this is 

 consumed by the English Sparrows. 



I know of a spring fed creek back from Geneva, Wisconsin, which, re- 

 mains open the entire winter. I can go there tomorrow and rind large 

 bunches of Mallards which have been there all the fall and winter. No 

 hunting was permitted on the farm last fall and the birds became ver\ 

 tame. Our new Fox Lake Preserve certainly is a success. Thousands 

 of ducks stayed on the Preserve, never leaving it. as it took them only a 

 very short time to know the boundary lines. ( limners by the score waited 

 patiently for the birds to go inland, but this does not happen after the 

 birds become educated. 



Walter Nordenholt. 



Olney 



A "spell" of cold weather, with much snow and ice, from January 6th 

 until about February 3rd. greatly augmented our family of bird-guests, 

 especially the cardinals, of which an average of 15 and 20 congregate 

 >everal times each day at the feeding boards just outside the dining room 

 window. Sometimes there are between 25 and 30 present at one time, but 

 we are unable to count them accurately because they move about or change 

 positions so often that we get "mixed up" in trying to count them. I think 

 I wrote you about a most beautiful semi-albino female cardinal which first 

 visited the feeding place on January 14th, and has been there several times 

 a day ever since. If you happen to have a copy of my "Color Standards" 

 to refer to I can describe her so that you may have a pretty good idea of her 

 appearance. Her crest and the greater part of her wings and tail are a 

 clear pinkish red (nearly "eosene pink," Plate I, d) ; the rest of the upper 

 parts are soft "pallid quaker drab" (PI. LI, f ) the under parts being inter- 

 mediate between the latter color and white. 



No other birds worthy of special note have occurred on our place this 

 winter, except a pair of barred owls, which roost during the day hidden in 

 the dense foliage of a large white pine tree or, sometimes, that of a hemlock 

 or spruce. At first there was only one bird, but about a week ago it was 

 joined by another, and I think they have paired. We often hear them at 

 night, hooting or "laughing." In order to ascertain, if possible, whether 

 they were destroying any of our birds I examined a number of "pellets" 

 picked up from the ground beneath their roosting places. Thus far I have 

 been able to identify with certainty bones of ground mice, house rats, and 

 rabbits. Consequently they have been allowed to remain, as they have 

 become quite tame. The last pellet examined, however, contained some 

 half digested remains suspiciously resembling part of a bird's wing; so it is 

 possible I may have to drive them away. I shall be very sorry to have to do 

 so, as they are evidently ridding the place of one of the worst of pests, 

 namely, the common rabbit, of which they have caught at least two. as 

 evidenced by the fur scattered over the grass, as well as by the bones dis- 

 covered in the before-mentioned pellets. 



After two months of steady winter — not extremely cold but the tempera- 



