6 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
“Unquestionably, 
Illinois has lost many 
species, while gaining 
only a few.” . 
(5) Least Flycatcher. Some breeding pairs 
evidently still persist near Warsaw. 
(6) Red-breasted Nuthatch. A few birds con- 
tinue to nest in the northern part of the state, as 
at Sterling. 
(7) Brown Creeper. Nesting pairs occur at 
Crab Orchard Lake, Williamson County, and in 
Allerton Park, Piatt County, and no doubt else- 
where. These creepers constitute one of the most 
interesting midwestern populations of birds, pos- 
sibly representing an undescribed form, physio- 
logically and perhaps even morphologically dis- 
tinct from the coniferous-forest breeding popula- 
tions north of Illinois. The biology of our Illinois 
birds is almost entirely unknown, and knowledge 
of their habits is limited to the observation that 
scattered pairs nest in floodplain deciduous forest 
and cypress swamps from central Illinois south- 
ward—into southeastern Missouri and probably 
northwestern Kentucky. The existence of the pop- 
ulation apparently was first demonstrated about 
75 years ago by Otto Widman, who discovered 
nesting birds in or near cypress swamps in Mis- 
souri. The AOU Check-List does not refer to nest- 
ing creepers in either I]linois or Missouri. 
(8) Solitary Vireo. Seemingly, a marginal and 
small-breeding population once existed in the 
north; nothing, however, appears to have been 
learned of its actual size or of the time and cir- 
cumstances of its apparent disappearance. An 
enterprising investigation might disclose a few 
remaining birds. 
(9) Black-and-White Warbler. A few scattered 
pairs nested recently in the south, occurring in the 
Pine Hills section, and in a deciduous woodland 
just north of Cobden, Union County. A search of 
these localities in 1968, 1969 and 1970 detected no 
trace of the species, and yet it seems safe to as- 
sume the species has not abandoned the area. 
(10) Golden-winged Warbler. Evidently a rare 
nester in Lake County. 
(11) Nashville Warbler. Evidently a rare nest- 
er in Lake County and perhaps in other northern 
districts. 
(12) Bachman’s Sparrow. A few birds formerly 
nested in northern Illinois, and in the recent past 
at Gum Springs close to the Johnson-Pulaski- 
Massac County line. The latter birds disappeared 
about five years ago. 
(13) LeConte’s Sparrow. A few birds may still 
