32 THE AUDUBON JBULEL Eagiie 
about 500 Old Squaws. There were at least 500 to 1000 more ducks so 
far out that we could not establish species. 
On December 22nd we had planned for our annual bird count but on 
account of the very thick foggy weather no one arrived, so it was made 
alone. This observation trip included the trail along the shores of Lake 
Michigan, which was very unsatisfactory because you could not see over 
one hundred feet on the water, so adopted the 21st report. The rest 
resulted in observing 5 Blue Jays, 15 Crows, 17 Tree Sparrows, 14 Slate- 
colored Junco, 2 Snow Buntings and about 300 English Sparrows. The 
observations in our yard during the entire day at the trapping station 
produced an unusual thrill. There were close to 150 English Sparrows 
around the place in spite of having trapped and killed about 200 recently. 
Someone’s cat caught a Pine Grosbeak and it was turned over to me on 
the 21st and was alive after midnight, but it was dead when I visited the 
cage on the morning of the 22nd. Early in the morning I heard the 
Hairy Woodpecker drumming. I think there was but one present 
although I saw it a number of times. Two Downy Woodpeckers, 3 
White-breasted Nuthatches and 2 Chickadees made regular visits to the 
suet. At about 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon there was an unusual 
surprise of seeing a female Northern Flicker flying to the hole in the 
tree where the squirrel had made its nest and immediately pulled out the 
leaves and grass of the squirrel’s nest. The squirrel sat and watched the 
procedure but did not interfere. Three Blue Jays and 4 Cardinals that 
were banded and think they are regular boarders, visit the sunflower seed 
box. About 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon was the prize observation. A 
trap that seemed to be well used by English Sparrows, that were nearly 
always able to escape after entering was observed to have something out 
of the ordinary in it. On account of the fogginess the binoculars 
did not disclose exactly the species of the birds, which appeared to be 
Starlings. There was one larger which was certain to be some sort of a 
Blackbird, at the entrance. Finally the large one entered and the trap 
was rushed. To our great surprise we found 4 Red-winged Blackbirds, 
one male and three females, the first one out of the trap being one that 
was trapped and banded on September 18th and probably it was she 
that led the others back to feed in time of storm. Two Tree Sparrows 
were trapped, one was a return from 1927, 3 Slate-colored Juncos, 
regular boarders that have stayed with us all through the winter, and 1 
Northern Shrike which entered the yard and we were unable to shoot. 
This makes the sixth Northern Shrike that has been in the yard this year. 
