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The Christmas Bird Census — 1954 
By PAuL H. LOBIK 
THE SOCIETY INVITES its members again to participate in the annual 
Audubon Census of birds in Illinois. For this year, the census period is 
from Saturday, December 25, through Sunday, January 2. Since the re- 
quirements for the Audubon Census have been tightened this year, it will 
be necessary for a member to join a group of birders in making his count. 
Your local bird club or nature society should be urged to sponsor a post- 
Christmas hike, if it is not already planning to do so. 
In the northeastern Illinois area, the Chicago Ornithological Society will 
take its traditional census in the Morton Arboretum on Sunday, December 
26, beginning at 9:00 a.m. To reach the Arboretum, follow highway #53 
north from Lisle, Illinois for one mile, then turn right to the Administra- 
tion Building, 100 feet inside the gate. This is an all-day hike: bring your 
lunch and dress warmly, as the watchers stay outdoors regardless of the 
weather. Guests are welcome. 
Apparently the new rules, published on pp. 3-4 of the Audubon Bulletin, 
No. 90 (June, 1954), have given some members the impression that they 
will not be permitted to take part in the Census. This is not the case; it is 
only necessary to join a group of two or more experienced birders, and 
plan to cover a relatively wide area with a variety of habitats. The essential 
rules are reprinted here from the June Bulletin: 
oe . The reporting group should consist of at least three experienced observers, 
covering an area approximately 15 miles in diameter. The exact size of the area is 
not as important as the variety of habitats covered — preferably marsh, open water, 
prairie, forest edge, and as many other types of landscape as may be available. 
The observations should be made for at least six hours, on a single day within the 
Census period. Duplicate or overlapping coverage of a single area cannot be per- 
mitted. Reports covering the highest counts over the same area taken on successive 
days. . . will not be allowed.’’ 
For the purposes of this Society, the 15-mile diameter rule will be 
waived; in heavily populated areas, private property restrictions make it 
virtually impossible to find an area of this size suitable for birding. Any 
large state, city or county park, or game preserve, should provide a suitable 
census area. Lincoln or Jackson parks in Chicago, Credit Island or Rock 
Island in the Tri-Cities area, Illinois Beach, White Pines, or New Salem 
State Parks, a section of the I. and M. Canal, a part of the Chicago lake 
front — all of these locales, and many more, are suitable as bird census 
areas. However, if two separate groups cover the same area on the same 
or different days, only the largest count will be allowed, with the lesser 
count being mentioned for comparison purposes only. 
Census reports should be sent before January 15 to the Bulletin Editor, 
4835 Wabansia Ave., Chicago 39, Ill. Copies will be forwarded to the 
National Audubon Society. Please follow the standard A. O. U. order in 
making your report and observe the style used in the previous write-up 
(see the March, 1954 issue). The following information should be given: 
date, terrain covered, miles by foot and/or auto, wind, weather, time spent 
in the field, species seen, numbers of each, and names of participants. 
