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Don’t establish a well-defined path to the nest. Other people, cats, dogs, 
and even cowbirds may be led to the nest by your thoughtless approach. We 
want the data and information that you can collect, but we do not want to 
depopulate the birds in your area while you are collecting the data! 
The second type of nesting data project which we wish to urge upon 
those of you who have become proficient bird observers is to cooperate with 
the systematic “Breeding-Bird Census” conducted by the National Audubon 
Society and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These are published an- 
nually in “Audubon Field Notes.” This bimonthly is published by the 
National Audubon Society for $3.00 per year. Volume 10, Number 6, Decem- 
ber 1956, contains the ‘‘Twentieth Breeding-Bird Census” and may be ob- 
tained for fifty cents. I strongly recommend that any of you who wish to 
cooperate in this effort study carefully the reports in this bulletin. 
Of the over 6,000 individuals who cooperated and reported last year, only 
two were from Illinois and they submitted a joint report on the Oak-Maple 
Forest and Forest-Edge area of Trelease Woods, six miles northeast of 
Champaign. They are S. Charles Kendeigh and Richard D. Brewer, both 
of the University of Illinois. In fact, there is quite a scarcity of reports 
from the Middle West or semi-prairie sections of the country. The material 
is needed. If you have a particular area with which you are familiar that 
covers a definite type of ecological niche and which you can observe repeated- 
ly and carefully, your reports can make an important contribution to the 
knowledge of Illinois bird life. 
In this type of breeding-bird census, as you will note in the December 
1956 report, it is not necessary to find every nest. Actually, for many birds 
the number of singing males found in the area, by carefully checking and 
mapping their locations and rechecking them on return trips, will give a 
fair indication of the number of nesting birds of that species. Of course, 
with some species such as the goldfinch, which becomes very quiet at nesting 
time instead of doing a great deal of singing, you will have to make a more 
exact type of check. 
The methods used in censusing vary with different types of habitats. Our 
prairie habitats are particularly in need of checking and have been over- 
looked time and again. If you care to cooperate with this effort, send a copy 
of your reports also to the Editor, “Audubon Field Notes,” 1130 Fifth 
Avenue, New York 28. 
There are a number of serious and advanced bird students among our 
state members, and surely some of them would like also to cooperate in this 
important endeavor to get more detailed information on the nesting and 
breeding habits of our Illinois birds. 
The bird populations of any area are never completely stable. Not only 
does the number of birds vary, but even the species change from time to 
time. New reports must constantly be brought in if we are to have the pro- 
per picture of our current bird population at any one time. The reports of 
Ridgeway and Audubon are historically interesting and valuable, but the 
reports of current observers are constantly needed and we want to urge you 
to keep records and to publish them in their proper places. When you have 
interesting observations and trip reports, do not hesitate to send them to the 
