ieee Ue DBO Ng BU iE ETN 
Approximately 100 given avian forms have 
been wiped out in modern times, of which roughly 
98 per cent existed as resident endemics of oceanic 
islands. Some examples: 
Lord Howe Island, 51 sq. mi.—Pigeon (1790), 
Parrot (1869), Thrush (1918), Starling (1918), 
White-eye (1918), Old World Flycatchers, 2 
species (1919-1928) 
Wake Island, 9 sq. mi.—Rail (1945) 
Bonins Island, 29 sq. mi—Thrush (1828), Finch 
(1828), Pigeon (1889) 
Chatham Island, 31 sq. mi.—2 Rails (1840, 1900) 
Kusaie, 42 sq. mi.—Crake (1828), Starling (1830) 
Guadaloupe, 120 sq. mi.Wren (1897), Towhee 
(1897), Hawk (1900), Woodpecker (1906), 
Petrel (1911) 
Tahiti, 600 sq.mi.—Sandpiper (1777), Parrot (1844), 
Rail (1937) 
Jamaica, 4,411 sq. mi. Nighthawk (1859), Rail 
(1881) 
Cuba, 44,218 sq. mi.—Parrot (1885) 
The smaller the island, the surer the loss of 
its endemic birds, or so it seems. As one illustra- 
tion, New Zealand with 103,736 square miles of 
territory has lost one form while her diminutive 
outlying islands have lost five. 
Accordingly it seems sensible to heed the 
contracted proportions of the nesting places used 
by our species. Most Illinois birds, unlike endemic 
island populations, are migratory—therefore sea- 
sonal in occurence and -relatively unrestricted in 
their movements. The vacuous and foolish will 
find comfort in that. 
But migrant birds depend as much on suitable 
nesting places as did the lost birds of Guadaloupe 
Island, and therein lies the problem of the Red- 
Listed Illinois birds. Their nesting habitats and 
their young receive about as much protection from 
selfish interests in Illinois today as did Tahiti and 
her native girls when drunken pirates first quested 
ashore in the 18th century. 
The migratory habit, it may as well be noted, 
hampers the attempt to rescue continental habi- 
tats. Land developers and bureaucrats, and hack 
*Data mainly from J. C. Greenway’s “Extinct 
and Vanishing Birds of the World” (1967). 
“Migrants depend on 
suitable nesting 
places. Therein lies 
the problem of Red- 
Listed birds.” 
