6 THE A UD UVB ONY SU DE 
Illinois Field Notes — Spring, 1959 
EVENING GROSBEAKS: When did the last of these irregular winter migrants 
leave Illinois? Your Editor counted as many as 22 all through February; 
the total declined to about 14 through March and April, and the last strag- 
gler, a lone female, was seen May 15. If anyone in the state has a later 
record of this species, please notify the Editor. 
By Anna C. Ames, Evanston 
EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH: Sunday morning, April 5, at the gravel pit north 
of Evanston, my son and I had excellent views of a European Goldfinch. 
By Lion F. Gardiner, Wheaton College 
ON SunpDAY, May 17, Dave Eshelman (also of Wheaton College) and I 
observed two (presumably a pair) Swainson’s Warblers (Limnothylpis 
swainsonii) at the west end of Lincoln Avenue in Wheaton. The area is a 
fresh-water marsh (cat-tails and sedges) of several acres bordered by woods 
and a swamp. The birds were seen in large bur oaks at the edge of the 
marsh. The sky was overcast, the temperature 55°-60°, wind light, time 
7:30 a.m. We identified the birds very carefully once and later went back 
and checked the identification when we read in Birds of Illinois how rare 
these were. 
By Violet Scherer, Olney 
UNCOMMON RECORDS FOR our area this spring include: Green-winged Teal 
on April 14; Bufflehead on April 7; Red-breasted Merganser on April 18; and 
Golden-winged Warbler on May 1. We enjoyed the second observation in the 
past 19 years of Common Gallinule on May 21 and Harris’s Sparrow on May 
1. Golden Plovers were seen from April 9 through April 25, with several 
hundred on April 12. Baltimore and Orchard Orioles were first seen on April 
29; Summer Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, on May 1. 
By Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Shaw, Sterling 
LECONTE’S SPARROW: Studied at close range (12 feet) in a grassy, wet 
meadow near Flynn’s Mud Flats east of Sterling — May 6. 
GOLDEN PLOvERS: A flock of 100 observed and photographed in muddy, 
plowed fields south of Sterling near the Green River Preserve — May 2. 
A smaller group was found feeding in a plowed field east of Sterling — 
May 10. This same field was their resting spot just one year ago. 
PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS: At least six pairs have arrived at Lock 13 north 
of Fulton and are choosing nesting sites — May 10. 
RupDDY TURNSTONE: One observed at close range at a mud hole in a plowed 
field east of Sterling — May 17 to 20. A pair of Dowitchers was studied also. 
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD: At least 10 pairs are inhabiting and believed 
to be nesting in the marsh along the Mississippi River 5% miles north of 
Thomson. American Bittern and Least Bittern can also be seen here. These 
can be observed from your car parked on the gravel road which runs along 
the wet lands. First sighted on May 16. 
