6 THESAU DY BION BUDE Ea 
Townsend’s Solitaire in Northern Illinois 
By KARL E. BARTEL 
TWENTY-TWO MEMBERS of the Chicago Ornithological Society braved the 
cold winds of 11° below zero to get another glimpse of a rare Townsend’s 
Solitaire in the Morton Arboretum, near Lisle, Illinois, on Sunday, January 
17, 1954. The bird was found once again in the orchard, a grove of crab- 
apple and hawthorne trees below the Thornehill Building, and was less shy 
than before, as it could be approached within 75 feet. 
The Solitaire was first discovered by members of the C. O. S. on Sun- 
day, December 27, 1953, during the regular Christmas Census. Since then, 
it has been found by anyone with the persistence to cover the orchard 
thoroughly. Good binoculars or a spotting telescope are needed, and it is 
best if the observers break up into small groups so as not to alarm the bird. 
The Townsend’s Solitaire is considered rare or accidental east of the 
Red and Missouri rivers. There are three records for Minnesota: a speci- 
men collected at Collegeville on December 20, 1909; another at Fairmont 
on November 30, 1916; and one seen at a feeding station at Groveland, 
from January through March, 1922. One specimen was collected at West 
Point, Wisconsin, in February, 1910. Another was obtained December 16, 
1875, at Waukegan, Illinois (the only previous Illinois record!). One 
Solitaire was under observation at Toledo, Ohio, from December 26, 1938, 
through January 14, 1939. The easternmost record is from Long Island, 
where a specimen was collected on November 25, 1905, at King’s Park. 
Members of the C. O. S. go out on field trips once a month or oftener. A 
new list is begun at the first of each year, and members work hard to 
record as many birds in the Chicago area as they can. The Townsend’s 
Solitaire is one of those exceptional birds that appears here once in a life- 
time. However, most of the members come out regularly and cover as many 
different kinds of territory as can be found in this region. When a person’s 
list reaches the 300 mark, he has worked very hard indeed. Here is the 
list of birds seen January 17th: 
Red-shouldered hawk, 1; screech owl, 1; long-eared owl, 2; hairy wood- 
pecker, 1; downy woodpecker, 1; American crow, 11; black-capped chickadee, 
4; white-breasted nuthatch, 1; red-breasted nuthatch, 2; winter wren, 1; 
robin, 7; hermit thrush, 3; Townsend’s solitaire, 1; golden-crowned kinglet, 
4; cedar waxwing, 19; northern shrike, 1; starling, 6; cardinal, 2; pine 
siskin, 60; American goldfinch, 50; slate-colored junco, 18; tree sparrow, 1. 
Total: 22 species, 197 individuals. 
2528 W. Collins St., Blue Island, IIl. 
