Dette Ae UW BPeON a Babel Lert sien 31 
slightly streaked. The lightest area was the lower belly and some light 
brown around the throat. The bird perched conspicuously in the rose, on 
a weed, and in a tree; it flew several times, but remained in the same 
immediate area. I immediately called it an Indigo Bunting, but was tem- 
porarily confused when it wagged its tail while on the weed stalk.” (Note: 
I suspect the tail wagging was an accidental observation—the bird was 
probably just maintaining its balance.) The Coopers were not able to ob- 
serve the bird long enough or well enough to identify it. 
On January 6, 1973, David Bohlen, several Chicago birders, and I made 
a return visit to the area. Dave and I again saw an Indigo Bunting, but it 
disappeared into the large ‘weedy field before the other observers. were 
able to get around the hedgerow to see it. Then, on Jan. 24 while operating 
mist nets. I caught and banded an Indigo Bunting at the same location. 
Therefore, there was at least one Indigo Bunting in the multiflora rose 
hedgerow at Union County Refuge during early 1973. At present I know of 
no other winter observation of this species in Illinois and therefore suspect 
that this is the first Illinois winter record of an Indigo Bunting. 
FI ft ft ft 
Red Crossbill On a Very Busy Campus 
by CAROLE J. FORSYTHE 
Department of Biological Sciences 
Illinois State University, Normal 61761 
On April 3, 1973, Richard Sandberg found a Red Crossbill incubating on 
the Illinois State University campus at Normal, McLean County ... re- 
ported in “American Birds,” Spring Migration, 1973 Issue. 
This constitutes the first record of this species nesting in Illinois, and 
as far as I can determine, south of northern Wisconsin. 
The nest was located in a larch tree directly in front of the student 
union, the busiest part of the campus, with hundreds of people passing 
under the tree each day. The nest was in a fork approximately 20 feet 
above the ground, and 12 feet from the trunk of the tree. It was well 
hidden by small branches. Beginning on April 5, I made regular observa- 
tions at the nest until it was deserted on the morning of April 8. 
Red Crossbills were seen in the Bloomington-Normal vicinity from at 
least early March in considerable numbers. Flocks of 6 to 8 birds were 
reported at several bird feeders and were also seen regularly on the ISU 
campus where they fed on the plentiful hemlock, larch, and pine seeds. In 
addition, a pair of crossbills was observed regularly on campus beginning 
March 15. This pair may have been the one that subsequently nested on 
campus. 
While the nest was being watched, the female incubated constantly 
as is characteristic of this species. In the early morning hours, the male 
fed her about once every hour. On every occasion that I observed, he ap- 
proached from the north and landed in another larch tree about 50 yeards 
away. At this time he began to call and continued calling while flying 
towards the nest tree. The female answered him from the nest and con- 
tinued to do so until he reached her. The male then fed her and immediately 
left the nest, always flying south for approximately 50 yards, where he 
then perched briefly, From here he flew west or southeast out of sight. 
I never determined his feeding areas. ' 
House sparrows caused the crossbills to desert the nest on April 8. Early 
on the morning of April 7, a female house sparrow attempted to remove 
