Deneve aUelaUsbvO (Nee Bal bil RetiN 
nest in northeastern districts but this is unlikely, 
owing to habitat destruction. 
(14) Clay-colored Sparrow. It is doubtful if 
more than a handful of these sparrows ever nested 
in Illinois and the species in all probability is 
gone now. 
SPECIAL STATUS 
(1) Least Tern. Nests on Bell Island, a sand- 
bar in the Ohio River near Shawneetown, Gallatin 
County. Bell Island (sometimes spelled ‘“Belle’’) 
is attached to the Illinois shore, but lies within 
the boundary of Kentucky. 
A RECENT EXTIRPATION: 
It is especially instructive to ponder the disappear- 
ance of the Purple Gallinule in Illinois, for this 
extirpation provides a fresh example of how 
species presently on the Red List may end up on 
the Black List, where, as noted above, various 
Red-Listed forms may and probably do already 
belong. 
Purple Gallinules nested and_ successfully 
raised young in Illinois for the first time at Lake 
Mermet, Massac County, in 1963. Migrants or 
wanderers from the south, the birds no doubt were 
attracted by acres of floating plants on the water, 
a nuisance to fishermen—duly removed in 1964. 
Some gallinules returned to Lake Mermet that 
same spring but left and the species has not since 
been known to nest in Illinois. Investigation shows 
that the officials who ordered the destruction of 
the plants were conservation-minded and con- 
scientious, but lacked the kind of information in- 
dicated in the Black and Red Lists. Had they been 
aware of the significance of the species, they 
would have labored to satisfy the needs of the 
fishermen while preserving the only breeding 
population of Purple Gallinules in the state. 
CURRENT AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS: 
The number of man-wrought bird extinctions and 
extirpations, together with evidence of the decline 
of extant species, furnish an index to the overall 
health of an area’s environment. The matter is 
complex, but a general correlation exists between 
the former richness and present impoverishment 
of an avifauna, and the former diversity and pres- 
ent uniformity of feeding and nesting niches 
available to the species. By eliminating niches, a 
reduction in the number of species in an area 
usually will be brought about. Or, substituting 
“Our Red List 
surpasses the sum of 
endangered birds on 
the whole continent 
of Africa.” 
