febvreA wD BON BULLE TON 23 
The Mid-Winter Survey 
HE mid-winter survey of bird life in Illinoisembodied in the various 
reports appearing in this Bulletin is of unusual interest. It repre- 
sents the generous response not only of members of the Society but 
of a number whose names appear in our pages for the first time. Some 
have kindly furnished copies of their Christmas census reports prepared 
for the January-February number of Bird Lore. Some, apologizing for 
scarcity of notable material, have contributed informal notes which 
have helped appreciably in glimpsing the distribution of species in mid- 
winter. One contributor, Mr. T. E. Musselman of Quincy, has given 
us a summary of his carefully prepared notes covering the past three or 
four months in the Quincy area, a report of unusual value. All these 
reports will repay careful reading and will contribute to a knowledge of 
the bird geography of Illinois. 
The extremes of Illinois are represented by Harrisburg on the south- 
east; Marion, southern; St. Louis, southwestern; Quincy, western; Port 
Byron, northwestern; Waukegan, northeastern. While fields blockaded 
with snow are pictured in all these reports, there is the usual contrast of 
Carolina wrens and mocking birds, meadowlarks and cardinals more or 
less vocal in southern Illinois, and of chickadees and woodpeckers only 
in northern woods with an occasional cardinal whose appearance is 
triumphantly recorded. 
Special interest always attaches to the appearance of birds from the 
woods of the far north. The pine grosbeak, the evening grosbeak and the 
northern shrike appear in the reports from the extreme northeastern part 
of the state. The purple finch was reported only at Lake Forest and the 
snow bunting only from Mt. Carroll. The cardinal seems to be pushing 
his range ever wider into northern Illinois. The mocking bird is evidently 
extending its range northward, also. The report from Quincy tells of its 
establishment in that area. The starling is widely reported. Comment 
upon this is made elsewhere. 
ANNA 
The starlings have invaded this (Union) County. Miss Kathryn 
Sturm of Anna reports six starlings in one group seen Christmas week. 
The citizens in that area are “going in for” pheasants, it seems. About 
150 pheasants were reared and turned loose there this past summer. 
ATHENS 
Watson Hall writes: 
I took a Christmas Census for Bird Lore December 22 spending 9% 
hours in the field and since I have not been able to do much field work 
