ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 35 



months Robins have been reported as coming to the feeding shelves. In 

 January a Cardinal was seen in the grove north of Elgin. On January 

 22nd a flock of fifteen Blackbirds was seen west of Elgin in a Pine Grove. 

 By March 2nd Robins had arrived in flocks, and Bluebirds were singing on 

 March 5th. 



Our Society is making every effort to complete the museum for the 

 Spring Opening." 



Decatur: Mrs. Benjamin Bachrach, local Secretary of the Illinois 

 Audubon Society for Decatur, reports the organization of the Decatur Bird 

 and Tree Club with over 100 adult members. George M. Proctor is Presi- 

 dent and Miss Rinnie Bean, Secretary. Mrs. Bachrach is Junior Super- 

 intendent and has charge of the organization of junior clubs, one for each 

 school. Each of these clubs is represented in the Bird and Tree Club by 

 four delegates, one parent, one teacher, and two children. Mr. W. B. Olds 

 has given his bird song recital at the Parent-Teacher District Convention 

 and Mrs. Bachrach has given bird talks at several schools, before the De- 

 catur Woman's Club, and certain church societies. Mr. Proctor, who is 

 the Y. M. C. A. Boys' Secretary, directed a bird house contest at the Y. M. 

 C. A. which scored a great success. Seventeen prizes were awarded. The 

 newspapers have given all this work full publicity. . One of the papers 

 gave a reproduction on its first page of the lecture announcements of the 

 Illinois Audubon Society, including portions of an advance copy of the 

 article entitled "Checking Up" in another part of this Bulletin. The latter 

 article elicited much interest among bird observers and several interesting 

 responses were printed. That sent in to the Decatur Herald by Forest 

 Breemfield of Bethany is reprinted elsewhere. 



Lake Forest : Mr. George Roberts, Jr., writes : 



"I have nothing unusual to report for the winter months. My shelf 

 continues to furnish me much delight, but, especially in an open winter 

 such as this, it has brought me nothing but the regular and commoner 

 birds ; the Hairy Woodpecker, coming oftener this year to my suet than 

 heretofore. A Robin visited my back door almost every day in January; 

 a lone White-Throated Sparrow was around the house up to November 

 27th, fully a month after a flock of them suddenly left my yard; Geese 

 flew northward in small flocks as early as the middle of January; and on 

 December. 4th, I saw two Doves by the road side a few miles west of here 

 (the identification was unmistakable)." 



Miss Alice Jean Patterson writes : I can not remember a winter when 

 we have had so few birds in this locality. The Cardinals have been here 

 all winter, have been singing since the first of February. We have had a 

 few Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers off and on. February 16th, there was 

 a Bluebird on our campus. The earliest date I have before this year is 

 Feb. 22nd. A Robin was reported January 15th. A number of Robins 

 have been reported the last ten days. There was one in our yard the 

 19th. Two Brown Creepers were seen Feb. 16. That is not unusual. 1 

 have seen them here before in February. A Bronzed Grackle arrived 

 March 4th and a large flock, March 8th. 



An interesting incident came to my notice the 28th of last September. 



