ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 39 



same covey was seen in the garden. On Feb. 13th, while taking a bird 

 walk, I found two small coveys. 



This is the first winter that I did not frequently hear the Screech Owls 

 call, and thought there were none about, but on the evening of Jan. 11th 

 one was fluttering against a window in the attic of an old building near 

 the house. I had left the door of the old building open on the previous 

 day, and the Screech Owl had gone in during the night, and up the open 

 stairway into the attic where we have our seed corn hanging, and was 

 probably trying to catch some mice. I opened one of the attic windows 

 and let it escape. Its plumage was rufous, and it certainly was beautiful. 

 On the morning of Jan. 14 my brother found a dead Screech Owl in the 

 basement of our barn. There is a trap door in the floor of the upper 

 part of the barn, which was kept open all winter, until a few days before 

 the dead Owl was found, w r hen it was closed. The Screech Owl had been 

 going up into the haymow to catch mice, and when the trap door was 

 closed, it starved to death in the basement. This owl's plumage was gray. 

 Great Horned Owls were common and could be heard hooting every night. 



There were no Red-headed Woodpeckers here this winter, and we 

 were glad of it. Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were common, and 

 the Downy Woodpecker was abundant. On the afternoon of Jan. 20th, we 

 were surprised to hear the mournful call of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 

 The call came from a near-by walnut tree, and upon going to the tree, we 

 found it to be a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the first one seen here 

 in the winter. 



Prairie Horned Larks were common all winter, and were first heard 

 singing Jan. 9th. The usual number of Blue Jays and Crows, never 

 very many, were seen and heard. Tree Sparrows and Juncos were very 

 rare, only two or three of each species came to my feeding shelf. A Tree 

 Sparrow was heard singing the first time Jan. 6th and the Juncos com- 

 menced to sing Feb. 28th. Cardinals were rare ; one came to my feeding 

 shelf the first time on Jan. 23rd and was heard calling the first time on 

 Feb. 3rd. Brown Creepers are always rare here during the winter. On 

 December 16th one was seen on a maple tree beside our kitchen, but none 

 was seen at the feeding shelf. W T hite-breasted Nuthatches were common ; 

 one pair comes to our feeding shelf every winter. Only a few Tufted 

 Titmice were seen and heard. On Feb. 1st and 4th I succeeded in calling 

 one up to the house, but it would not go onto the feeding shelf. They are 

 very easy to call if a person imitates them. Chickadees were common, and 

 six of them came to my feeding shelf. 



On the morning of Feb. 18th, the first Bluebird came to our place, 

 and on the morning of Feb. 28th the first Meadowlark was heard. At 

 dusk on the evening of March 1st, a Killdeer was heard calling, and the 

 next morning one was seen in a near-by pasture. On March 2nd, a Black- 

 bird was heard while flying over, and about six Robins were seen. On 

 March 3rd, the temperature ranged from 22° to 37°, and on March 4th 

 from 28° to 65°, but there were no new arrivals on those two days. As I 

 finish these bird notes on the morning of March 5th, it is nice and warm, 

 the temperature was 52° at 7 A. M. and the following named species were 

 heard singing near the house : Prairie Horned Lark, Meadowlark, Tree 



