30 THE AGU DUBIOUS cg loa ia Be ee, 
The birds blend in well with green foliage, fly fast, and cover a lot of 
territory. 
The lady near Lockport, where the two parakeets nested, said they 
were so noisy while captives in her house that it was “impossible to live 
with them.” They escaped when she put the cage outside to get some 
relief, but they continued to live in the area. On cold winter nights the 
monks would go into her chicken coup and bluff 40 Starlings to get a place 
on each side of the light bulb. She also has seen the two fugitives picking 
through cattle droppings for grain, much like the English Sparrow. 
Here in the Midwest, with food production an important economic 
activity, the Monk Parakeet is viewed as a potential crop pest. Agricultur- 
ists believe that other introduced pests are lesson enough, and do not ‘want 
to risk another Starling, English Sparrow or Norway Rat. The Bureau of 
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the Illinois Departments of Agriculture 
and Conservation have joined to declare the Monk Parakeet a potential 
threat which should be prevented “from becoming established in the wild 
in the State of Illinois.” A search for colonies and their removal is a con- 
tinuing program. 
This policy has been unanimously approved by the board of directors 
of Illinois Audubon Society. 
FI fi fl 
A Winter Record for the Indigo Bunting in Illinois 
by VERNON M. KLEEN 
During the Union County Christmas Bird Count last December 31, Glenn 
Cooper, his two sons, and I were counting in the Union County State 
Wildlife Refuge and the immediate areas just south and east. Through the 
southern edge of the refuge, just east of Reynoldsville and Illinois Rt. 3, 
there is a two-lane, paved road flanked on both sides by multiflora rose 
for nearly half a mile. 
During the winter months, these multiflora hedgerows are very pro- 
ductive, birdwise, and occasionally offer a few surprises such as the three 
Harris’ Sparrows during the 1971 Christmas Count, and another one during 
January and February of this year. Regular species found in the hedgerows 
as one walks down the road include large numbers of White-crowned Spar- 
rows, fair numbers of Tree, Swamp and Song sparrows, several Mocking- 
birds, Cardinals and Rufous-sided Towhees, and at least one or two 
Loggerhead Shrikes. 
In order to get a decent count and check of the birds utilizing the 
hedgerows, at least one observer must walk down the road and another 
on the inside edge. This is what the Coopers and I did during the 1972 
Christmas Count — the Coopers along the road and me on the inside edge. 
As we walked, our tally of individuals increased; in fact, we found more 
White-crowned Sparrows along that hedgerow than the total from all other 
observers in the count area combined. 
Just before we reached the end of the hedgerow, I found an unexpected 
bird and recorded the following notes: 
“A goldfinch-size bird with a dark, small, finch bill. The bird was 
goldish brown, darker on the back than below; underneath paler brown. 
Faint eye ring and little, if any, trace of wing bars. No white in the tail; 
dark eyes, Not much in the way of distinctive markings although sides are 
