24 TH EA USPS Ber Nee Dry es Uncaratens 
Of late the western meadowlark has steadily extended its breed- 
ing range eastward into our region, after having become established 
at Rockford some years back. MHarris’s sparrow which formerly mi- 
grated north and south only west of the Mississippi River is of late 
years seen in increasing numbers east of it, in our area and as far 
east as Ohio. 
Last fall, for the first time in many years, enormous flocks of 
the lesser snow goose, the equally rare blue goose, and small parties 
of the whistling swan were to be seen. 
What is at the bottom of all these striking variations, fluctua- 
tions, or cycles? 
River Forest. 
Conservation Council Excursion 
The State Natural History Survey extended an invitation to the 
Conservation Council of Illinois for a trip on the Illinois River near 
Havana. On the 23rd of last October twenty-five members of the 
Council drove about 200 miles down-state to that valley about which 
bird lovers have heard so much. To hunters all over the country it 
is known as the best valley in the state for water birds during the 
fall migration. Practically all the land adjoining the river is occu- 
pied by gun clubs or under lease to hunters. We were entertained 
from 11:00 A. M. until 4:30 P. M. aboard the Anax, the boat used 
in the work of the Survey, where we not only had a good hot dinner 
on a cold day, but had many kinds of questions answered by the dif- 
ferent members of the Survey staff. 
During the trip up and down the river, flocks of cormorants and 
many ducks were always to be seen. We visited the Chautauqua Lake 
Migratory Wildfowl Refuge, formerly an irrigation area which did 
not work, but which more recently has been acquired by the federal 
Bureau of Biological Survey. There were ducks, and more ducks 
gathering; still more came in as the sun moved toward the west! 
Could I count them? No! Shall I estimate—-say, 50,000? At any 
rate, more ducks than I have seen before in a whole year at least. A 
large proportion of the ducks migrating over the state come along 
this valley, and they soon sense the area where hunting is not allowed 
—something for which every bird lover may be thankful! Then came 
something else for which to be thankful—the sky covered with tiny 
pink and old rose clouds, a sunset never to be forgotten, along with 
the clouds of ducks which in memory will long remain. 
CATHERINE A. MITCHELL, Riverside. 
