2 TH Ee AU;D UB" O N=B Ue Ue ei 
hunters, at no cost to itself? The answer, obviously, is, “none.” Prairie 
Chicken, as game, is gone. The Heath Hen went long ago. Passenger 
Pigeons? Their story is well known. 
Doves remain. Protected by Canada and 20 states around and north of 
us, they fly south every fall through Illinois, and the ‘harvest’ begins. 
Noxious weed-seeds that they might have consumed, flourish untouched. 
Hunters converge to protect the state from these marauders and to uphold 
Illinois’ reputation as a sporting mecca. Non-hunters are unable to effect 
any measure which protects doves until nesting is definitely over, or utilizes 
their beneficial gleaning habits during a leisurely, south-bound flight. 
Senator Boughner and I stood alone for a few minutes in the State House 
corridor after the 1959 fiasco. We had just thanked Senator McClory, who 
introduced the bill. The hunters, too, had departed after the Assistant Di- 
rector of Conservation had finished stating their case. We said little, for 
there seemed little to say; a powerful Department had led the fight against 
our “sentimental” bill. Yet still the feeling persisted that justice had mis- 
carried. Just where or how to retrieve it, we did not know. 
Days later, I watched one of the closing sessions of the state Senate 
from the visitors’ gallery. From the leaflet explaining senate procedure, 
which I held, the words leaped up: “The measure of the worth of any bill 
is its value to the people of the State as a whole.” This, then, might be our 
clue — the justification of a stubborn “reverence for life.” There is value 
in nature’s way. In the words of a qualified scientist: “We are faced with 
the problem — do we wish to continue a short-lived pleasure of hunting, or 
do we wish to maintain our wildlife for generations of non-killing pleasure, 
plus economic values?” 
Some day our state will vindicate its “sentimentalists.” Some day our 
meager ranks will grow, and an effective majority will vote “Aye!” for 
the benefit of ‘‘the State as a whole.” 
1241 W. Washington St., Springfield, Ill. 
Bald Eagle Winter Survey 
By ELTON FAWKS 
FoR THE PAstT few years the writer has been concerned about the ratio of 
immature to adult Bald Eagles. This concern has been shared by others in 
the eastern United States. Considerable correspondence has been carried 
on, and many of the findings have been published recently in several orni- 
thological journals. 
The National Audubon Society has started a study under the leadership 
of Mr. Harold S. Peters. However, lack of funds prevents a nation-wide 
effort. Intensive surveys are being made in Florida, where it appears that 
our national bird is doomed. We can be of much help to the National So- 
ciety by conducting winter eagle counts. The writer is collaborating with 
observers in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska on this project, and 
it is hoped that other states will be represented. More people are also 
needed in the states mentioned. 
Fairly detailed studies have been made around the Tri-Cities region 
during the past two winters, chiefly with the help of Mr. Peter Petersen, Jr., 
who is co-chairman of this project. We have counted eagles wherever seen, 
sometimes as we drove about during the business day and at times over all 
of our count area. This is the same area used for our annual Christmas 
Census, a 7%-mile radius centered on the Memorial Bridge over the Missis- 
