hee eo eal Bb OrN. (BiUM wb bela N ) 
Thomas Gray composed his “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard;” 
and the “Church of the Recessional,” replica of the parish church where 
Rudyard Kipling worshipped. Many couples go to the Wee Kirk O’ the 
Heather and the Little Church of the Flowers to be married. Many beautiful 
trees, shrubs and flowers decorate the grounds. 
Monday is a “‘Closed Day” at the Los Angeles Planetarium, ‘and so 
I was unable to hear the lecture. The grounds are nicely landscaped on 
a mountainside, with a wonderful view of Los Angeles either by day or 
night. There are trails below where one may see and hear many birds. 
Twilight was falling, so I could not see much, but I added a new bird, the 
wren tit, to my life list. The mountainside was full of mockingbirds; a 
California thrasher was seen, as well as two rabbits, the only ones I saw in 
California. 
My two weeks in Los Angeles and surrounding towns were full of 
interesting experiences. I saw many old friends, and hope to visit them 
again some day. 6335 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, 37 
fi fi fi 
Protection for Mourning Doves 
THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, alone among Midwestern states, still permits the 
hunting of mourning doves as a game bird. The Living Museum, quarterly 
publication of the Illinois State Museum at Springfield, pointed out in 
a recent article that the population of mourning doves has visibly declined, 
that the nesting capacity of this species is not great enough to withstand 
heavy hunting pressure, and that, as far as food value is concerned, “One 
may make a better meal of a robin.” 
Both the Illinois Audubon Society and the Illinois Natural History 
Survey have been making a study of the mourning dove situation, but 
such work takes time and neither organization has collected enough data 
to establish definite conclusions. Illinois bird observers, however, report 
unanimously that the population, nests, and number of successful young 
of the mourning dove have gone down considerably. Since the question 
of placing the species on the protected lst is due to come up before 
the State Legislature at the biennial meeting in January, action must 
be taken now before it is too late. 
Accordingly, the Board of Directors voted that the Illinois Audubon 
Society recommends placing the mourning dove on the list of protected 
birds in Illinois, and that the hunting season on this species be closed. 
Plans will be made to introduce a bill to this effect at the coming session 
of the Legislature; a State Senator or Assemblyman who will sponsor 
the bill whole-heartedly must first be found. Every member of the 
Society will then be asked to participate in a letter campaign, writing his 
representative (and urging his friends to write) in support of the bill. 
More information on this campaign will be published as it progresses. 
