eri eens UO eb sOeNee Bs Ue lne Mel ato 17 
SEPTEMBER 1973 
Avocet — 2 at Woodstock, September 15. Burstatte and W. D. McMaster. 
. Least Tern — 2 at Albany, September 15. Members of Tri-City Bird Club. 
Caspian Tern — 25 at Albany with the Least Terns, and 30 at East Moline. 
Elton Fawks. 
Osprey — 1 or 2 at IAS Fall Campout, Oregon, September 8. Also 1 at Erie 
and 1 at Fulton, September 8, by Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Frink. Also 3 
at Thunder, Rock Island County, September 17 by Hank Hannah. 
Also 1 at Kickapoo Park September 18-9; 1 along Middle Fork by 
Windfall Prairie on September 16, and 1 staying at Homer Lake 
September 1-16 — all by Park Ranger Donald Noel. 
ft = si ft 
CITY LIFE FOR A PEREGRINE 
Is the peregrine falcon adapted to city life? Chicago has at least one pere- 
grine—commonly known as duck hawk—which circles the loop and roosts 
atop the Kemper Insurance Bldg. at 20 N. Wacker Drive, the old Chicago 
Civic Opera House. Executives on the 22nd floor first noticed the falcon 
when they observed a shower of feathers, like snowfall, one day, identified 
the bird using binoculars. The falcon is a predator on city pigeons, which 
should be good news for those who consider the pigeon a pest. Prof. J. J. 
Hickey, University of Wisconsin falcon authority, says he has heard of 
only 3 other peregrines in cities—2 in New York and the other in St. Louis. 
The peregrine, on the endangered species list, is the fastest bird known; 
his dives have been clocked at 180 mph, 60 mph faster than the golden 
eagle. 
A GROSBEAK IS DEAD AT 25 
In what is perhaps a longevity record, a locally famous Rose-breasted Gros- 
beak lived to the age of 25 in central Illinois. The death of “Birdie” was 
reported this summer by Dr. and Mrs. Harry Riegel, of Dwight, who had 
watched over this particular bird for five years; it had come to them upon 
the death of some people who had it for 20 years. The carcass and bones 
have been preserved. (See Illinois Audubon Bulletin No. 148, December 
1968, for the original story of this domesticated Rose-breasted Grosbeak.) 
—Mrs. Vinnie Dykes, Princeton 
REPORT OF MANY BLUEBIRDS 
At a lovely spot in the country near my farm, Mr. and Mrs. Kermit Heitz 
boast of approximately a hundred bluebirds which, Mr. Heitz says, have 
always been there, The area has many huge oak trees, a clearing with 
bird houses, and another woods beyond. Last winter this bluebird colony 
stayed for the season (they’re always fed). At our place two bluebirds 
were here up to the first snow, feeding on wahoo by the roadside. 
—Susan Greer, Rushville, Schuyler County 
RARE FLYCATCHER. RED PHALAROPE ARE SEEN 
Confirmed sightings of an Ash-throated flycatcher and a Red Phalarope 
prove these rare bird specimens are in Illinois. In case of the former, it’s 
the first record of an Ash-throated Flycatcher ever seen in Illinois. The 
bird was identified November 2 by Dave Bohlen, zoologist with the Illinois 
