14 THE A UD U BONS. Lieb ae 
ILLINOIS FIELD NOTES — 1960 
By ELTON FAWKS 
HERE Is ADDITIONAL information on some of the birds that wintered in the 
Tri-Cities area as mentioned in the Audubon Bulletin, June, 1960. For the 
past three winters many Purple Finches have been seen around the feeders 
in Moline. These records also account for the Goldfinches and Mocking- 
birds, and for the past two winters, for Brown Thrashers. The Rufous- 
sided Towhee was observed near a feeder but was not seen by the writer. 
Common Snipes were seen all winter near Joy, Ill., by Ted Greer and 
Robert Trial. The Black-crowned Night Heron was an immature bird first 
called to the attention of Peter Petersen, Jr., of Davenport, Iowa, in that 
city on Feb. 16, 1960. We both observed the bird which spent a day in a 
tree in the residential area close to downtown Davenport. About four Gos- 
hawks were seen several times at four separate locations. 
The Golden Eagle deserves more comment. We do not have many records, 
and some of our local observers doubted their own reports because the 
Golden Eagles were seen in Bald Eagle habitat and with Bald Eagles. How- 
ever, this winter the Golden Eagle was definitely identified several times, 
first by the writer and later by others. Mr. Edwin Meyers of Davenport 
obtained some movies of an immature Golden Eagle plainly showing the 
white in the tail. The bird was first seen Feb. 29 sitting on the Mississippi 
river ice with several Bald Eagles. At times the Bald Eagles drove the 
Golden away. On March 3rd I found one adult Golden Eagle perching with 
11 Bald Eagles. They were six to a side, evenly spaced as Christmas tree 
decorations, with the Golden Eagle the lowest on one side. He was con- 
siderably smaller than the others and was definitely a male. 
We have had several reports of White Pelicans this summer. On June 1, 
James Hansen saw ten; on the third he reported 14. On July 18 a wedge 
of 11 flew over my house. Henry Hannah, Rock Island County Conservation 
Officer, reported that eight or nine Pelicans have spent the summer on the 
Mississippi river near Muscatine, Iowa. Red-headed Woodpeckers continue 
to increase. Yellow-crowned Night Herons are now found here each summer. 
Route 1, Box 112, East Moline, IIl. 
By CARL GYLLECK 
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS nested this spring at Y.M.C.A. Camp 
Tu-Endie-Wei, five miles south of Elgin, Ill. The nest was located 60 feet 
above the ground in a tree by nature counselor Phyllis Schat. I came out 
to verify the find, identifying the bird by the distinct marks under the eye 
and the dark breast. Three young have been observed. 
A partial albino young Bronzed Grackle appeared in my yard this June. 
The back and wings are sooty white, the eyes black rather than pink. 
Early in June a pair of Indigo Buntings nested in a raspberry bush in 
my back yard. Shortly after the young hatched, the city sprayed my block 
with D.D.T. for mosquito abatement. Two days later, the nestlings were 
dead. 
As I drove past a farm near Elgin last spring, I noticed a hawk’s nest 
high in an elm tree. Overhead, an adult Red-tailed Hawk was circling, 
making plaintive cries. On the ground two young hawks lay dying; another 
