rumen Dee te ON twin Ly Beir leN 51 
logical crossroads, with its flora 
and fauna of the arid southwest 
mixing with that of the moist east- 
ern woodlands. Hard freezes seldom 
come to the area, because of its 
proximity to the gulf. An _ ob- 
server can find ferns and palmettos, 
mixed forests of beeches, oaks and 
magnolias, orchids and evergreen 
pines. 
Bears, panthers, and_ wildcats 
can still be found. Hunting is very 
popular in the area, with huge 
herds of deer. About fifty acres of 
the Big Thicket are being lost 
every day and with it goes the 
giant alligators, and other reptiles. 
The Big Thicket area covers ap- 
proximately five southeast Texas 
counties: Tyler, Jefferson, Liberty, 
Hardin and Polk. 
Congressman Bob Eckardt of 
Texas is now being supported by 
BOOK REVIEWS 
FIELDBOOK 
OF ILLINOIS MAMMALS 
by Donald F. Hoffmeister 
& Carl O. Mohr 
Dover Publishing Co., 1972 
233 pp, 119 figures, $3.50 
In 1957 the Illinois Natural History 
Survey published the long waited 
for “Fieldbook of Illinois Mam- 
Congressman Charles Wilson and 
Jack Brooks. Some homeowners in 
the area feel they will be displaced 
with the passage of park legislation. 
They have been assured this will 
not happen, just as it did not hap- 
pen at the Indiana Dunes, Cape 
Cod and other areas, which are 
now national parks. 
Your program chairman can ob- 
tain slides and tape on “The Van- 
ishing Big Thicket” from Lone 
Star Chapter, Sierra Club c/o Mrs. 
Frankie Dieckow, Box 53270, Hous- 
ton, Texas 77052. A 16-mm film is 
available from Texas State Histori- 
cal Association., Drawer 8059, Aus- 
tin, Texas 78712. The Eckhardt bill 
is HR 5941, which would establish 
a reserve of not less than 100,000 
acres. It is reported that conserva- 
tionists are urging President Nixon 
and the Interior Department to 
support the bill. 
mals,’ which was out-of-print be- 
fore the majority of the naturalists 
within Illinois knew of its existence. 
This outstanding contribution to 
mammalogy covers the 59 species, 
which represents 7 orders and 16 
families known to occur in Illinois. 
The reprint edition provides addi- 
tional information on the Harvest 
Mouse, which previously was 
known from only Carroll County, 
and now is represented by speci- 
mens from throughout northern 
Illinois. Name changes are listed 
for four species that have changed 
since this book was first published. 
Since the reprinting an additional 
bat species (Free-tailed Bat) has 
been taken within the state. This 
represents a new family addition, 
making a total of 17 families in 
Illinois. 
The book opens with a seven- 
page review of the habitat prefer- 
ence, and geographical distribution 
of Illinois mammals. This is fol- 
lowed by a brief outline of how to 
study mammals, and methods of 
