THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 51 



Illinois Prairies in 1871 



Reprint from Introduction, Birds of Illinois, 

 by Robert Ridgway 



THE PRAIRIES. The author's personal acquaintance with the 

 prairies, their vegetation and their fauna, is very limited. In his 

 section of the State, there is no open or uncultivated prairie nearer 

 to Mount Carmel than 25 miles, the nearest one being Allison's Prairie, 

 opposite the city of Vincennes, Indiana. 



In Jasper and Richland counties, prairies of considerable size occur. 

 They are offshoots or arms of the Grand Prairie, although each particular 

 arm or "bay" has its own distinctive name. A few miles west of Olney, 

 Richland County, lies Fox Prairie; and to the southeast of this (the 

 wooded bottoms of the Fox River and tributaries intervening) is Sugar 

 Creek prairie. These two are the only prairies which the writer has 

 explored ornithologically. 



The first visit to Fox Prairie was made on the 8th of June, 1871, 

 the writer and his companions arriving a little before noon. A rolling 

 plain spread before us, the farther side bounded by timber, while the 

 prairie itself was free from tree or brush, except where some intersecting 

 stream was followed by a narrow line of thickets, interspersed with occa- 

 sional fair-sized and gracefully formed elms; or along the edge, where 

 the jungle of sumac, thorn-bushes, wild plum, hazel, etc., backed by 

 young oak and hickory trees, showed plainly the encroachment of the 

 woodland. Herds of horses and cattle scattered about over the prairie, 

 and two or three neat farm houses, with their attendant orchards and 

 cultivated ground, made us realize that we were yet within the bounds 

 of comfortable civilization; otherwise, the landscape presented much of 

 its primitive aspect. The day was a delightful one; for, although the 

 heat ranged above 8o°, the fresh prairie breeze tempered it to a delight- 

 ful mildness. Resting upon the cool greensward in the shade of a 

 large elm in the hollow, our ears were delighted by such a chorus of 

 bird-songs as we have heard nowhere else. Among the leafy arches 

 overhead the Baltimore Orioles whistled their mellow flute-like notes, 

 accompanied by soft, contented warble and joyous carol of the Warb- 

 ling and Red-eyed Vireos; the birds of the meadow were chanting on 

 every hand their several ditties, while the breeze wafted to us the songs 

 of various woodland species. In the scrubby jungle a Mocking-bird 

 fairly filled the air with his rich medley of varied notes, the singer leap- 

 ing in restless ecstacy from branch to branch, with drooping wings and 

 spread tail, or flitting from tree to tree as he sang. A Brown Thrasher 

 poured forth a ceaseless accompaniment as he sat perched sedately upon 

 the summit of a small vine-canopied tree — a contrast in bearing to the 



