2 TH EAU DUB ON” BU Loe ies 
The Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society needs the support of the 
many people in Illinois who wish to keep park land in its natural state. It 
is imperative that the officials responsible for the outcome of the Waukegan 
proposal be contacted. The Society urges anyone opposed to this plan to pro- 
test by writing to Governer Otto Kerner, State Office Building, Springfield; 
Mr. William Lodge, Director, Department of Conservation, Springfield; or 
Mr. Charles Sauers, Chairman, Conservation Advisory Board, Springfield, 
Illinois. Public disapproval of this proposal must be made immediately; if 
the citizens of this state are apathetic, they may lose their park land. 
Ed. Note: There were 535,000 admissions to Illinois Beach State Park in 
1961; camping reached a total of 31,000 persons — an increase of nearly 
50% over the previous year. 
Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ill. 
ft ft fl 
BARN OWL NESTING IN ILLINOIS 
By HARLAN D. WALLEY 
IN THE COURSE of a study of polygamy and variation in egg characteristics 
of Redwinged Blackbirds, I had the opportunity of gathering some data on 
nesting of several other species, of which these are outstanding: 
BARN OWL (Tyto alba) 
Published reports regarding nest- 
ing of the Barn Owl in Illinois are 
few. Ford (1956, Chicago Acad. 
Sci. Spec. Publ. No. 12: 51) cites 
all available nesting records for 
Illinois prior to 1956. I have not 
found any additional published re- 
ports since 1956, but I have had 
the pleasure of locating a nest in 
DeKalb County. 
On August 16, 1960, Mr. Walter 
Rudd and I located a nest 35 feet 
from the ground in a hollow 
branch of a large American Elm 
(Ulmus americana), in the yard of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Tutland, Sand- 
wich, Il]. The limb which served as the nesting site was approximately 1% 
feet in diameter, open at the 'top and also on the east side. The owls were 
one yard from the entrance, and uttered a loud hissing sound upon the 
slightest disturbance, and throughtout the entire time of observation. The 
female immediately left the nest upon being disturbed, while considerable 
probing was required to entice the four young to move. All four young were 
capable of flying short distances (up to 100 yards), and were kept under 
close surveillance by the mother from a nearby tree. It is believed that the 
young would have left the nest within a few days. A year later, on August 
1, 1961, three young were observed at the same site. 
According to Smith and Parmalee (1955, A Distributional Check List of 
the Birds of Illinois, p. 36), the Barn Owl is an “uncommon permanent resi- 
