ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



21 



r-M 



» # 



i •* 



Bird Notes of a Trip to Starved Rock 



The morning of April 28 dawned bright and cool. A gentle 

 breeze was stirring and just as the sun came over the horizon of 

 Lake Michigan, a Robin sang the dawning song and was shortly 

 joined by a Towhee. Thus with promise of a good day ahead, I 

 left Chicago with two companions for Starved Rock. 



As we paused for a detour, I heard my first house Wren 

 of the season, although the others of the party had seen them 

 a week earlier. As we went farther south these little birds in- 

 creased in numbers and at the park itself they were abundant, 

 being particu- 

 larly fond of 

 brush piles from 

 which, as we ap- 

 proached, they 

 would fly to the 

 trees overhead 

 and bubble out 

 their lively song. 

 The roadsides 

 that morning 

 w ere replete 

 with bird life. 

 One of the most 

 interesting 

 birds we saw 

 was the Horned 

 Lark. They 



were new to me but I found them to be numerous over the en- 

 tire journey, always being startled from the middle of the dusty 

 road. The tail is black on each side of the center and, though 

 a conspicuous mark, none of the bird books at hand mentioned 

 this fact. We heard the song while the birds were chasing each 

 other over the fields at great speed, and while not unmusical it 

 was not so pretty as that of the bobolink, to which it is some- 

 times compared. 



A little farther down the road we actually saw a Bobolink 

 and as the car came to a sharp halt we heard him sing. I w T as 

 agreeably surprised at seeing the rice-bird, as this w T as the first 

 year I had ever seen him this far north in April. 



Mourning Doves in twos and threes were continually fright- 

 ened from the road. They made me wonder how they could be 

 so numerous, with their careless nesting habits and rating as a 

 game bird. Invaluable to the farmer, yet they are sac- 

 rificed to the lust of a few sportsmen at the cost of the entire, 

 sleeping country. 



We passed several Loggerhead Shrikes at intervals, every one 

 sitting composedly on wires overhead. However, I have seen 

 them just as often flying actively through shrubbery lining road- 



A FIELD SPARROW'S NEST 

 Photo by George Crook 



