18 THE AUDUBON BU LD 
THE CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUS—1968 
by Mrs. Harry C. Spitzer 
Hardy and intrepid are the words that describe most of the participa 
in the 1968 Christmas Bird Count. Temperatures were as low as 12 and 
degrees below zero; some counts were made while a major storm cen 
was moving in, and I know of several less dedicated birders who folc 
their tripods and went home after two hours! 
The total number of individual birds—441,232, is far above last yes 
282,403. However, if the additional reports which came in very late | 
year had been included in the table, the picture would have been revers 
The species count is down to 126, from 131 a year ago. Notice how R 
shouldered Hawks are down, also how few areas report them. On * 
other hand, although no one counted a Snowy Owl on Count Day, 1 
total numbers of all owls increased from 133 to 190. My own choice : 
special mention is 809 Robins! I have checked all the previous years’ tab! 
starting in 1961, and except for 532 in 1964, the number of Robins | 
never exceeded 101, and so this year’s total is very large, even excludi 
the 598 reported from Jersey-Calhoun counties. 
One final note—last year we had our first reported airplane cens 
this year the Chicago Lakefront was covered in part by a group aboard 1 
USS Coast Guard Cutter Arundel, and Urban Chicago listed 8 hours or 
bicycle, with a temperature below 20 degrees! 
All of the beautifully neat and punctual reports make this more 0: 
fun job. This time, too, the reports were sent to me—not to the Museum 
the Editor. Thank you. Maybe I will keep a list of compilers in my fi 
guide and come calling on some of you one day ... My life list has so 
large gaps. 
—1776 Roger Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60! 
Census Editor’s Note: We, too, wish to thank all participants in the I! 
Christmas Census for a job well done. Although the report was bigger th 
ever, the job of compiling it seemed easier. Unfortunately, more than h 
of our total consists of Starlings and House Sparrows. It is gratifying 
see sO many supporting notes giving details of unusual species. Some co 
pilers have fallen into a bad habit of describing their areas by sayil 
“Same as last year.” Two stations gave no description of the areas covel 
at all! Since more than half of our membership has joined us within 1 
past five years, let us all hereby resolve that in 1969 we will provide a g¢ 
description of the kind of birding area we cover. —Paul H. Lol 
