4 TH ESA UD U,BIONG BEB UL Leia 
study and only three Chestnut-sided Warblers. 
Surprisingly, no specimens of the Myrtle Warbler, an abundant migrant, 
were found. However, as in the case of the species killed at the Washington 
Monument and the WCIA tower, mortality of the Red-eyed Vireo was high. 
Specimens of the Ovenbird were the most numerous of the 40 species repre- 
sented in a large sample of birds recovered after flying into a television 
tower at Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Kemper, 1958). The Ovenbird was the 
second most abundant species recorded by Brewer and Ellis (1958) while 
it ranked fourth in this study, preceded by the Gray-cheeked Thrush, Olive- 
backed Thrush and Tennessee Warbler. 
The majority of specimens examined exhibited some quantity of fat; in 
the case of the Olive-backed and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, the fat layer was 
quite heavy in the abdominal region. Several other species, such as the 
Northern Water Thrush, Bobolink, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird and Red- 
eyed Vireo were moderately fat. In the case of several species it was possi- 
ble to determine sex and, in such instances, all the specimens of a particular 
species were either male or female. For example, the Rose-breasted Gros- 
beaks and Bobolinks were females while the Catbirds and American Red- 
starts were males. Most, if not all, of the Ovenbirds and Red-eyed Vireos 
were females while the majority of the thrushes were males. 
This first instance of bird mortality at the WICS television tower pro- 
vided an index to the species composition of a flight of fall migrants through 
central Illinois. By keeping records of the climatic and other conditions 
associated with such mortalities over a period of years, a great deal can be 
learned concerning the factors affecting the migration movement as well 
as the species involved. 
Literature Cited 
Brewer, Richard and Ellis, Jack A., 1958. ““An Analysis of Migrating Birds Killed at a 
Television Tower in East-central Illinois, September 1955 - May 1957.” Auk, Vol. 75, No. 
4, pp. 400-414. 
Howel, Joseph C., Laskey, Amelia R., and Tanner, James T. 1954. “‘Bird Mortality at Air- 
port Ceilometers.’’ Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 66, pp. 207-215. 
Kemper, Charles A. 1958. “Bird Destruction at a TV Tower.’’ Audubon Magazine, Vol. 60, 
No. 6, pp. 270-271, 290-298. 
Overing, Robert. 1936. “‘The 1935 Fall Migration at the Washington Monument.” Wilson 
Bulletin, Vol. 48, pp. 222-224. 
. 1937. “The 1986 Migration at the Washington Monument.” Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 
49, pp. 118-119. 
. 1938a. “The 1937 Fall Migration at the Washington Monument.” Wilson Bul- 
letin, Vol. 50, p. 146. 
—. 19388b. ‘High Mortality at the Washington Monument.” Awk, Vol. 55, No. 4, 
p. 679. 
Pough, R. H. 1948. “Out of the Night Sky.’’ Audubon Magazine, Vol. 50, pp. 354-355. 
Smith, Harry R. and Parmalee, Paul W. 1955. ‘‘A Distributional Check List of the Birds 
of Illinois.”’ Illinois State Museum, Popular Science Series, Vol. IV, 62 pp. 
Spofford, Walter R. 1949. ‘‘Mortality of Birds at the Ceilometer of the Nashville Airport.” 
Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 61, pp. 86-90. 
Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Ill. 
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