ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



Concerning the Dickcissel of the Illinois Prairies. 



A Review 



In the January, 1921, number of The Auk appears the first of a series 

 of two articles on the Dickcissel of the Illinois Prairies by Dr. Alfred O. 

 Gross, which, as the title indicates, should be of unusual interest to Illinois 

 readers. The article treats of the geographical range, abundance and dis- 

 tribution of the Dickcissel in Illinois, migration, general activities and be- 

 havior, etc. The second 

 article, to appear in 

 April number of The 

 Auk, will cover such top- 

 ics as food and life his- 

 tory, nest, eggs, and 

 plumage at different 

 stages of growth. These 

 two articles comprise a 

 notable studv which 

 while somewhat tech- 

 nical has much in it of 

 fascinating interest to 

 the general reader. To 

 give readers of the Bul- 

 letin some idea of the 

 value of the series of 

 articles, liberal quota- 

 tions therefrom are here 

 made, with the author's 

 permission. 



As a preface to the 

 paragraphs quoted be- 

 low, it may be said that 

 Dr. Gross is Professor 

 of Biology at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine. In 1906, while still 

 an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, he and another 

 student were selected by Professor Forbes to make an autumn bird sur- 

 vey across Illinois, from east to west. This they successfully ac- 

 complished, walking from Danville to Quincy in 53 days and mak- 

 ing careful record of the bird life they found in a strip 150 feet wide and 

 192 miles long! The data secured was published by Professor Forbes in 

 April, 1907, in a bulletin entitled, "An Ornithological Cross-section of 

 Illinois in Autumn." In 1907 Dr. Gross with an assistant spent a month 

 in each of the three sections of Illinois, making careful surveys of the bird 

 life, and again in 1909 the work was repeated, this time ten days a month 

 being spent in each section during the three summer months. In this way 

 Dr. Gross secured valuable statistics relating to the comparative abundance 

 of the common birds of the Illinois fields. 



As a general introduction to his subject Dr. Gross writes: 

 "To one who journeys along the dusty roads of Central Illinois on a 

 hot summer day, there is nothing that relieves the quiet monotony of the 



THE DICKCISSEL 



A DETAIL FROM A MUMFORD PICTURE. REDUCED FROM 



PHOTOGRAPH WITH PERMISSION OF A. W. MUMFORD 



