30 THES AW DU BirOIN 1B sisted aoe 
Gives you bird-food planting ideas 
for suburbia, exurbia, and rural 
areas — all very well illustrated 
and diagramed, and pointed toward 
15 varieties of trees and shrubs 
most attractive to a range of birds. 
Good companion piece to Bob Van- 
derpoel’s story in our Summer 
issue. 
a ft ft 
BIRD-FEED RESEARCH / On the 
other hand, at Cornell the orni- 
thologists are seeking to learn the 
seed preferences of birds which 
visit backyard feeders, and going 
tc the top of the pecking order to 
get the answer — they’re asking 
the birds themselves. Specifically, 
the scientists seek to establish the 
optimum contents and proportions 
for bird-feed mixtures to attract 
the greatest diversity of birds with 
minimum waste. The study is spon- 
sored by the Specialties Division of 
Agway, which, among other things, 
sells pet foods and bird seed. Ten 
different seeds will be tested and 
six feeders will be used. Five of 
the feeders will be filled with 
seeds and the sixth will be kept 
empty to eliminate position bias on 
the part of the birds. (When 
news comes in of the results, if 
any, BULLETIN readers will be 
among the first to know.) 
Ft Ft FI 
NEW HOMES FOR BIRDS / Hun- 
dreds of northern Illinois birds 
have been moving into new homes 
in Illinois state parks. . . result of 
a project by retired men of the 
Presbyterian Home in Evanston. 
The project got its start when a 
letter was received by the Illinois 
Department of Conservation from 
Rev. Newland C. Roy, retired min- 
ister living in the home. He asked 
if the Department knew of any 
public or private lands where 
members of the retirement com- 
munity could put up birdhouses 
they were building. 
The letter wound up on the desk 
of Ronald D. Johnson, superinten- 
dent of the Division of Parks and 
Memorials. “The Rev. Mr. Roy 
offered us the houses at no cost to 
the state,” Johnson said. “He want- 
ed only help in putting them up in 
the park areas, which we were glad 
to do. We contacted him and his 
men went to work.” 
The Presbyterian Home has com- 
plete workshop facilities and six 
resident of the home started the 
task of building the birdhouses. 
Bluebird and wren houses were the 
immediate goal. Next year, how- 
ever, the group plans to build wood 
duck and purple martin homes as 
well. 
“So far we have placed bird- 
houses at Lawrence Warren, Wolf 
Lake, Chain O’ Lakes and Illinois 
Beach state parks, as well as on 
private properties,’ Rev. Roy said. 
“Next year we hope to place the 
houses at other state parks in our 
area, and also on private lands 
nearby.” 
ff fl 34 
SALUTE TO FAWKS & COMPA- 
NY / A news release issued in 
April by the Illinois Department of 
Conservation (subject: mid-winter 
eagle count) quoted Director Henry 
Barkhausen: ‘The Illinois Audubon 
Society has conducted eagle counts 
in these areas for the last 13 years, 
and its work in conservation is in- 
valuable to our agency. Through 
Audubon statistics alone, we can 
see the population trends of eagles 
in our state, and other states as 
well.” 
a fi a 
NEW FILM AVAILABLE/‘“‘Open 
Illinois” is the title of a new 16mm 
color motion picture which the 
Illinois Information Service is mak- 
ing available to organizations (no 
charge). It’s described as “really 
extraordinary” by John Mongoven, 
L.I.S. supervisor, who also calls it 
a stunning comment on the beauty, 
