Teste Ug 6 DO uN bo sel ee be Ny 7 
ginous Hawks, the Purple Gallinule, Chuck-will’s Widow (Miss Marion Cole 
had one in her yard in Lake Bluff a few years ago, and they have been 
recorded at Wolf Lake), Chukar Partridge, Pileated Woodpeckers, Worm- 
eating and Kirtland’s Warblers, Magpies and Bewick’s Wrens are all on 
some Chicago lists. 
I have only general impressions of bird population changes over the 
years. We saw more Glaucous and Iceland Gulls in the past than we do 
today. The fishing fleet of Waukegan has almost disappeared, and with it 
the gulls that followed the boats in from the open lake, but could that 
account for the increasing rarity of the birds? Cormorants are becoming 
rare. I haven’t seen one since October, 1959, but two were reported at 
Skokie Lagoons in the spring of 1967. Loons seem to be fewer in number. 
The once annual trip of the C.O.S. to the Indiana Dunes in November has 
been dropped because the chief objective of the trip—jaegers—are so seldom 
seen nowadays. Shore and marsh birds are increasingly hard to find, at 
least the ‘special’ ones like the Piping Plovers, Buff-breasted and White- 
rumped Sandpipers, and Upland Plover. Loss of habitat and suitable rest- 
ing places is responsible for the decrease. 
The Prairie Chicken is gone from our area, probably forever. Within 
the past three years it has lost its only Chicagoland breeding grounds, near 
Morocco, Indiana, in Newton county. Sprague’s Pipit does not appear in 
the Ford bulletin. I have never seen it in the Chicago area, and I do not 
know of anyone who has. I wonder how it got on the C.O.S. card? 
These random observations might inspire a supplement to the 1956 
Ford bulletin, bringing it up to date, and a revision of the Evanston field 
cards when it is reprinted. It would appear that the Chicago area is one 
of the best birding territories in the country. The wintering birds from 
the far north, the rarities blown in by storms from the south and west, 
make Chicagoland birding an endless surprise and delight. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Bennett, Holly Reed. ‘Fall Migration of Birds At Chicago.’ Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 64 ,No. 4, 
December, 1952. 
Clark, Charles T., and Margaret M. Nice. “William Dreuth’s Study of Bird Migration in Lincoln 
Park, Chicago.” The Chicago Academy of Sciences, Special Publication No. 8, 1950. 
Coursen, C. Blair. “Birds of the Orland Wildlife Refuge.” Published as a supplement of 
Turtox News, General Biological Supply House, Inc., 1947. 
Ford, Edward R. ‘Birds of the Chicago Region.’’ The Chicago Academy of Sciences, Special 
Publication No. 12. 19564. 
Graber, Richard R., and Jack S. Golden. ““Hawks and Owls: Population Trends from Illinois 
Christmas Counts.” Natural History Survey of Illinois, Biolegical Notes No. 41, 
March, 1940. 
Ridgway, Robert. The Ornithology of Illinois. Natural History Survey of Illinois, 2 vols., 
1889, 1895. 
Smith, Ellen Thorne. Chicagoland Birds: Where and When te Find Them. Chicago Natural 
History Museum (Field Museum), 1958. 
Smith, Ellen Thorne. “Early Records of Chicagoland Birds.’’ Chicago Natural History Bulletin, 
August, 1961. 
Smith, Harry R., and Paul W. Parmalee. A Distributional Check List of the Birds of Illinois. 
Illinois State Museum (Popular Science Series IV) and Illinois Audubon Society, 1955. 
—604 Ravine Ave., Lake Bluff, Ill. 60044 
