68 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
wit, the first records for this vicinity. At the Society’s meeting held there 
on May 5, twenty-three different kinds of birds were seen. 
On. January 21 a large flock of Redpolls and Goldfinches were seen on 
the flats of the Kishwaukee River southeast of the city and on August 29 
Egrets were seen at the same place. In August the song of the Field 
Sparrow was heard for several nights in the middle of the night. 
This year the Society will take part in the annual bird census covering 
the forest preserves surrounding the city and rounding up at noon at the 
Kilbuck Preserve for a steak fry and comparison of lists. Last year 
eighteen kinds of birds were seen, but we hope for a longer list this year. 
The following notes from Rockford are from members of our society. 
FRANCES S. Dosson. 
My Cardinal Family 
For many weeks last winter a pair of Cardinals visited my feeding shelf 
daily, but late in the Spring the male came alone, evidently having lost his 
mate. He returned in late July with a new mate and on August 3 brought 
two nestlings to the shelf, cracked seed for them and fed them. ‘he next 
day he came again with the babies, stood between them feeding first one 
and then the other. On August 6 he seemed to be very much excited and 
uttered warning notes to the babies on the shelf. Upon investigation a 
young Oriole was seen on a nearby branch waiting for a chance to come 
and feed. “The Cardinal showed very plainly that he wanted no intruders. 
On August 7 the whole family came and fed together and on the 8th, the 
male and female came alone, the male being very attentive to his mate twice 
giving her a cracked seed. On August 9 the male came alone with the 
babies who fed themselves for the first time. On August 12 after missing 
them for a few days the babies were seen in a nearby apple tree apparently 
able to care for themselves. On September 2 when the male came to the 
shelf he showed signs of moulting and exhibited a bad temper, chasing his 
mate from the shelf. On September 14 the female came with a new nest- 
ling. She had started to moult and looked very ragged while the male 
seemed to be getting new feathers. For the next few days both came with 
the new baby. By September 20 the baby was able to feed himself and after 
September 25 the family disappeared and have not returned to the shelf so 
far this winter. 
Mrs. M. T. Lone, Rockford, Illinois. 
