ieee Orlel btOeNs 2B Ue GE TT N 15 
of the Chicago park district, leaders from the Illinois Aubudon Society, 
the Chicago Ornithological Society, and the Evanston Bird Club conducted 
walks in five parks on four Saturdays in May; in Lincoln Park the walks 
began March 26, and continued through May 20. 
Indicative of the interest shown and the number of persons reached is 
a report from Mr. and Mrs. James Decker, who headed the walks in Jack- 
son Park. On May 6, the number of hikers totaled eight and the number of 
species seen, 62. The following week, May 138, the number of bird walkers 
increased to 40, including 20 Girl Scouts from Troops 402 and 156 of the 
Bryn Mawr Community Church and five Hyde Park High School students 
with biology assignments to look for birds. The number of species seen 
totaled 78. On May 20, the group again numbered 40, including 20 Girl 
Scouts and 15 high school students; 65 species were seen. On May 27, 30 
persons went on the walk, including 15 Girl Scouts and 10 high school 
students, and 36 species were seen. Fortunately, with both Mr. and Mrs. 
Decker well qualified to lead the walks, the groups could be divided so 
no one party was too large. 
Miss Doris Plapp, who led walks in Lincoln Park on nine Saturdays, 
also reported a large proportion of Boy and Girl Scouts and high school 
students in her groups. Average groups there had 12 to 15 hikers. The 
two biggest days were May 6 and 13, with 85 species seen each day. Miss 
Plapp reported a total of 150 species seen in the nine walks. 
Other leaders and the parks in which they conducted walks included 
Mrs Pauline Esdale, Columbus Park; Abel Schwartz, Indian Boundary 
Park; Mrs Janet Zimmermann and Harold Lenz, Gompers Park, and Mrs. 
Reba Campbell and Theodore Nork, River Park. 
The leading of bird walks is a contribution that the Illinois Aubudon 
Society hopes to maintain and increase, for it is an invaluable way to in- 
terest the citizenry in birds and nature in general. An appeal for leaders 
will be issued again next spring, and it is hoped that it will get a good 
response. It is not necessary to be an expert at bird identification, for most 
of the hikers will be beginners and the field will be entirely new to them. 
It certainly is no sin to have to look up a confusing warbler in the book! 
Ft 1 FI 
Another Life History 
The eighteenth volume in the series of life histories of North American 
birds by Arthur Cleveland Bent has been published as bulletin number 
197 by the United States National Museum of Washington, D.C. It follows 
the same general plan of Mr. Bent’s other scholarly works which he be- 
gan nearly 40 years ago. The new volume covers the life histories of wag- 
tails, shrikes, vireos and their allies. It comprises 400 pages with 48 
plates, almost half of which are devoted to vireos. Like all of its predeces- 
sors it will be prized by every bird student. As long as the supply is avail- 
able it may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, ° U.S. 
Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C., at $1.50 per copy. 
