28 ILLINOIS AUDUBON BULLETIN 
approximately 15 m high in a Red Oak (Quercus rubra) tree. One of her 
young was observed at the nest site on 30 April, and | assume the den was 
occupied by one or more Fox Squirrels when these observations were made. 
Nursing female Fox Squirrels are known to defend their nesting dens 
(Adams, Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Nebraska, 116pp., 1973). A European 
Starling was observed sitting on a limb near the squirrel’s den and examining 
the opening. The starling flew to the hole and started to enter but paused and 
sat next to the opening for a few seconds. The starling then entered the hole 
and disappeared briefly from view before hastily exiting and flying about 
5 m away from the squirrel den. After approximately 20 seconds, the starling 
flew away. 7 
Another instance of squirrel-starling interaction has been reported, but 
with a different result. Work (Audubon Bull. 23:41, 1933) reported that a 
squirrel drove flickers from a nesting cavity and then starlings routed the 
squirrel. 
In a current study of squirrel utilization of artificial nest boxes, Fox, 
Gray, and Southern Flying squirrels (G/aucomys volans) seem to occupy the 
nest boxes during the late fall, winter, and spring months. During the 
summer months, after the squirrels show less interest in the nest boxes, signs 
of flickers, Tufted Titmice (Parus bicolor), Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Cen- 
_ turus carolinus), and Common Screech Owls (Otus asio) are seen in the nest 
boxes. 
| thank R. R. Graber, J. W. Graber, C. M. Nixon, W. R. Edwards, G. C. 
Sanderson, and H. C. Schultz for reviewing the manuscript. This note is a 
contribution of Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project, Illinois W-66-R. 
—lllinois Natural History Survey 
Urbana, IL 61801 
Status of the Whip-poor-will and Chuck-wills-widow 
in Sand Ridge Forest, Mason County 
by DALE E. BIRKENHOLZ and THOMAS A. MARQUARDT 
During the summer of 1975 several persons heard a Chuck-wills- 
widow (Caprimulgus carolinensis) in Sand Ridge State Forest in Mason 
County (Kleen, V. M., 1975. Middlewestern Prairie Region Nesting Report, 
Amer. Birds 29:981). Then, on June 5, 1976, Marquardt heard one individ- 
ual near the campgrounds in the center part of the Forest. With an idea to 
ascertain the status of this species in the area, we conducted roadside call 
counts throughout the vicinity. This paper reports on these counts and 
