Peewee OeDeUehe Ney B* Uslnis eh TeleN 9 
6. If the baths are back as far as ours (fifty feet), field glasses have to be 
used for all small birds. In this case, the window should be of plate glass 
or thermopane so that the image will not be distorted. 
606 Thatcher Avenue, River Forest, Illinois 
CREDITS: The illustrations for Mrs. Wasson’s article were taken by Laurie Jones, 335 Keystone 
Avenue, River Forest. His blind consists of an old card table on stilts, covered with burlap. 
fA ft i fl 
The 1963 Fall Camp-Out 
By Alfred H. Reuss 
GREEN OAKS, a 730-acre tract of land given to Knox College by Alvah 
and Allen Green and the Little John Coal Company, was the scene of our 
two day Fall Camp Out. The weather cooperated splendidly, and two warm, 
sunny days were enjoyed. One hundred and one people registered for the 
meeting. More tents than ever were seen at sundown, indicating many 
hardy souls. 
After passing through the gate at Green Oaks, and making a sharp 
left turn to the camp out area, we were greeted by a spectacular display 
of goldenrod in one of the former plowed fields now being planted back 
to a tall grass prairie. Besides other prairie wild flowers and grasses, 
the beautiful Indian Grass was in full bloom. As members arrived and 
registered, groups were formed and leaders chosen to “Bird The Area.” 
It soon was apparent that the oak woods were a paradise for Red-headed 
Woodpeckers. They seemed to be all over the area. Almost everyone took 
the trail to “Beaver Dam,” but the beavers had left several years ago. 
Wild flowers were found along all the trails. 
At 4:00 P.M. a Board of Directors’ meeting was held at “The Barn.” 
The Barn proved to be authentic, with bales of hay serving as benches. 
Several walking sticks were found, adding a bit of excitement for those 
who had never seen one. At 6:00 P. M. a group of Girl Scouts with their 
able leader, Mrs. Brown, served a tasty, filling meal in a one-pound coffee 
can. A fresh apple, cored and filled with fruit cocktail, preceded the main 
dish, which was two hamburgers, sliced potatoes, and carrots, served piping 
hot. There were individual pies for dessert, individually baked, chuck 
full of apples, and two inches thick. This meeting was no place to lose 
Ww eight. 
The speaker of the evening was Dr. Paul Shepard, director of Green 
Oaks and professor of biology at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. His 
talk on crows’ was most interesting. Dr. Shepard has studied crows for 
many hours. He notes that they are very sensitive birds. Since male and 
female crows are black, one can tell male from female only by the voice. 
The male tone is about one-fourth deeper than the female. Dr. Shepard 
takes crows from the nest at four days, when their eyes are still closed. 
They are then isolated. He observes that his young birds do not bathe or 
preen their feathers because they do not see other crows doing the same. 
They learn from each other by watching what the other one does. There 
is a peck order among crows, with the number 1 and 2 birds being the 
strongest. If a crow is taken out of number 1 position it will lose its 
standing and can again work up to number 2 position but never again 
regain number l. 
