felt, Wel ON BO Ee BeiN 35 

seasons, Mr. O. M. Schantz and I left LaGrange on Saturday morning, 
May 3ist, for a drive through the beautiful lake region of Northern 
Illinois, to be followed by a visit to Grand Detour on the picturesque 
Rock River; both of these localities being of especial interest at this 
season to the bird student or botanist. 
After an early breakfast, we motored leisurely along the River Road, 
which follows the Des Plaines River valley nearly to the river’s source 
and borders several miles of the beautiful Forest Preserve region of Cook 
County. Here woods, composed largely of elms, ash, maple, willow, and 
a large variety of oak, skirt both banks of the Des Plaines, and inter- 
spersed are numerous thickets of flowering hawthorns and wild crab. 
These, owing to the unusual lateness of the season, were in full glory of 
white and pink bloom against the green background of the woods and 
hillsides. From the borders of the woodland in the early morning sun- 
shine, poured forth a medley-chorus from the throats of brown thrashers, 
cat-birds, gold finches, towhees, indigo buntings, rose-breasted gros- 
beaks, and field and song sparrows. Along the roadsides and from the 
open fields came the bubbling songs of the bob-’o-links, the soft, sweet 
notes of the blue-birds, the “‘or-ka-ree”’ of the red-wing blackbirds and 
the clear, far-carrying notes of the meadowlarks. Barn swallows, 
swifts, martins, and bank swallows soared overhead or skimmed the 
fields; grackles and cow-birds were plentiful everywhere; occasionally a 
crow passed leisurely overhead, or a small colony of them scolded from 
the loftiest trees in the woods, where their full-grown young were al- 
ready out of the nests and testing their squeaky voices; while along the 
little streams or over the pasture fields could be heard the “‘peet-weet”’ 
of the spotted sandpiper, the boisterous rattle of the kingfisher, or the 
plaintive “‘kill-dee kill-dee” of the killdeer plover. Now and then a 
sparrow hawk, or occasionally a large red-shouldered hawk, soared over 
the fields or woods; while flickers and red-headed woodpeckers were 
abundant, scores of the latter being observed along the fences and upon 
the telephone poles. Clean-flying mourning doves, almost invariably 
flying in pairs, but occasionally with a rejected suitor following closely 
behind, sped over the fields or passed overhead with whistling wings, 
giving an exhibition of ee speed and grace in flight. Once a great 
blue heron passed overhead, his leisurely wing movement easily deceiv- 
ing the beholder as to the remarkable speed at which he travels. Near 
the marshy portions of the numerous lakes or large ponds that are found 
as one leaves Cook County and enters the hill country of Lake County, 
red-winged black birds, swamp sparrows and marsh wrens were plentiful; 
and occasionally bitterns, little blue herons, and pied-billed grebes were 
seen; with here and there a few of the graceful little black terns, lazily 
tilting over the water. When we stopped near any of the wilder bits of 
woods, downy and hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, pewees, 
least and Acadian flycatchers, oven birds, scarlet tanagers, and occa- 
