Meet UD LU BO. Ne 6 Usiel BT iN 25 
The final talk was by Dr. Willet Wandell, formerly of the Illinois 
Natural History Survey, who now operates extensive nurseries in Urbana 
and has a contract to lanscape some of the new systems of highways in 
Illinois. He discussed the types of trees and plants that must be chosen 
for roadside planting from the standpoint of low maintenance, as well as 
purpose — to cut glare, funnel traffic, harmonize with surrounding areas, 
lend variety, screen out poor areas, project wooded areas to the highway, 
and frame beauty by a vista effect. Consideration is also given to spring 
blossom, fall color, ability to hold foliage, longevity, ease of transplant- 
ing, and to those plants which do not require annual spraying. 
37 Nottingham Avenue, Springfield, III. 
ici ff fi i 
RANDOM BIRD NOTES 
By Blanche Cone 
If the bird population is waning because of the increased use of pesticides 
and insecticides and the encroachment of civilization, there was certainly 
no evidence of a decline in our woodland sanctuary. We were happy to 
note a rather sharp increase in bird activity. 
Early this spring, two or three pairs of flickers were seen feeding their 
young on the lawn. Three pairs of Red-headed Woodpeckers and their 
gray-headed young busied themselves about the various oaks. Two im- 
mature Red-bellied Woodpeckers were noted, but there was no evidence 
of the nesting sites or the parents. Only one downy was seen feeding her 
young. There were numerous Blue Jay families, and the new Robin fami- 
lies were never as common as this year. Three Brown Thrashers made a 
long summer residence here and were seen daily about the feeders, but 
there was no evidence of nesting. 
A pair of Wood Ducks made their annual apartment-hunting recon- 
naisance about the woodland. A nesting box erected in an oak a number 
of years ago has never been used, to our knowledge. Although duck down 
was discovered on the woodland floor, we failed to find or see the young. 
In a previous year, 13 ducklings rapidly scurried down a narrow ravine 
as I worked about my flower beds. 
Rare sights included three male Scarlet Tanagers and one immature, 
sunning themselves for perhaps half an hour in a young oak at the edge 
of the lawn. Daily visits were made to our compost bins, for long periods, 
by 3 male and 1 female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. The familiar, delightful 
sound of the Wood Thrush was missing from our woodland area this year 
— but the sound of the Ovenbird was new. Sadly enough, however, the 
only casualty in years, against our dining room picture window, was the 
Ovenbird. 
While we periodically spray for dandeloins and chickweed, our varied 
bird population consumes large quantities of insects and worms in safety. 
They also consumed huge quantities of unsaleable cheeses (gathered weekly 
at a large food mart), suet, stale bread, various melon seeds, canteloupe, 
honeydew, watermelon and squash seeds, overripe grapes, etc. The birds 
swarmed about the compost bins and pecked at melon rinds and other 
assorted inedible foods. 
As summer waned and nature spread her bountiful harvest of acorns, 
huge concentrations of grackles populated the oaks and the lawn. An in- 
