22 



THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



sides, so that this was not a fixed habit of the species, but merely 

 chance. 



Before leaving home we were told that the country was "as 

 flat as a pancake" on the way to the park and that we would be 

 bored with the trip. This information did not dampen our en- 

 thusiasm, for it came from a lady who knew not how to see in- 

 teresting things at every hand and her statement was contin- 

 ually disproved. We found many of the common birds very 

 abundant and every tenth to fifteenth fence post had its perch- 

 er. Every village had its avenues of different kinds of trees and 

 even the country was rolling rather than flat. The road crossed 

 several interesting streams, at one of which we identified a 

 Greater Yellow-legs. The large bird was solitary and rather in- 

 different to our inquisitiveness although he wandered from our 

 sight after a few moments. In the short one hundred miles to 

 Starved Rock we saw thirty-three species of birds along the 

 road. 



I had often heard reports of Cardinals being seen, but until 

 today I had not seen one myself and so was quite excited when I 

 spied one, feeding under some cedar trees. Another halt was 

 made while we watched the beautiful bird and listened to his 

 three-syllabled song. By moving slowly we were able to ap- 

 proach within a few yards, and then with the field-glasses we ob- 

 tained a view that would sat- 

 isfy the most critical of us. 

 Before the trip was over I 

 had become well acquainted 

 with this new friend, for I 

 encountered others at 

 Starved Rock and also at 

 Deer Park. (At the time of 

 writing this, a few weeks 

 after returning to Glencoe 

 from the trip, some friends 

 reported that their cat had 

 caught and devoured a 

 Cardinal.) 



Every bird we saw was 

 interesting, but two of the 

 noteworthy ones, seen on the 

 way to the park, were a 

 Kingbird, the first seen this 

 year, and a White-breasted 

 Nuthatch, creeping head 

 downward over the trunk of 

 a sycamore. Upon arrival 

 at Starved Rock about noon, 

 we saw for the first time many Tufted Titmice. They are easily 

 identified by their crest and mouselike color. They utter a call 



OCCUPYING A LONG-TIME LEASE 

 Photo by George Crook 



