4 (oH Eb yA US Deus ByFOUNw BU ae ere 
that do not follow the rules will be rejected. 
Your organization should then pick the count area. Using a good map 
of your local area, and a compass set to a 7% mile radius according to 
the scale of miles shown on the map, inscribe your 15-mile diameter circle. 
Try to center this circle so as to include a variety of habitats, and as many 
of the good local winter birding spots as you can. Pick a date within thie 
count period for your official count. 
Try to determine in advance how many persons from your group will 
participate on count day. Your compiler will have to submit a complete 
list of names and full addresses of all participants, and collect fifty cents 
from each of them, for remittance to National Audubon. Remember that 
in Illinois, teams taking official counts must be in the field a full eight 
hours on count day — preferably longer if your area requires it. 
Plan how best to “cover” your count area, in order to check it thor- 
oughly. Will you work together all day, as one party, or will enough 
people participate so that the group may be split into a few smaller par- 
ties? If more than one party is available, it will probably be advantageous 
to divide your count area into definite segments, and assign each party to 
a definite section for coverage. Each party should preferably have at least 
three persons and be under the leadership of an experienced birder. Re- 
member that your count should be accurate, thorough, and represent the 
bird population of your count area on count day. Avoid duplications. 
If more than one party are in the field on count day, the leader of each 
party should give the compiler not only the count of birds seen, by species 
and individuals, but also a record of the number of hours his party was 
in the field, the number of those hours on foot and the number by car, 
and the mileage covered by foot and by car — for the party as one unit — 
not for each individual or each car in the party. 
The compiler should be one of the most experienced birders in the 
organization. It will be his or her duty to assemble all the records, from 
the one or more parties who are active on count day, and submit these 
figures on the official count forms. The compiler lists data about weather 
information on count day — describes the terrain of the count area (what 
percent open fields, what percent wooded, what percent river bottoms, 
marshes, etc.) — and totals the bird reports from all parties. Hours and 
mileage figures should be the accumulated totals of parties (not individ- 
uals) participating. Official reports are to be in National Audubon head- 
quarters by January 15th, in order to be accepted. 
There are many sections in Illinois from which no Christmas Counts 
are received. If your organization has experienced birders and good terri- 
tory, why not start taking a count each year? These counts get more 
interesting as the records accumulate — and they do serve a scientific 
purpose as well. 
6942 S. Jeffery Avenue, Chicago 49, Ill. 
EDITOR'S NOTE: We are indeed fortunate to have a definitive article on bird counts from 
Miss Margaret Lehmann, who has led and compiled the Christmas Counts for the Chicago 
Ornithological Society for many years. If you follow her instructions, your counts will meet 
the standards of the National Audubon Society and will fill a valuable scientific purpose. 
For those of you who wish to have your reports published also in the AUDUBON BULLETIN, 
please send a duplicate copy of your official report to the new Christmas Census Editor, Mrs. 
Harry C. Spitzer, 1776 Roger Avenue, Glenview, Illinois. She, too, should have the reports 
by January 15th. =—)P.CHogk 
