10 TH ES ACU. D°U) BOON BYU teres 
if there were seventy-five? We did not count them but there were a great 
many. 
Again stopping at the place where we had seen the quail, we discovered 
that in the next field the ground was literally covered with small birds. We 
identified snow buntings, Lapland longspurs, prairie horned larks (yellow 
throat), and horned larks (white throat). That is the only difference we 
are able to make in separating the horned larks. One of our group was 
sure some of the longspurs were yellow enough to be Smith’s. Before we 
reached home we saw a pair of meadowlarks feeding only a few inches from 
the concrete highway, where the snow had melted. After seeing all these 
birds in January, we are fearful that the rest of the year may seem rather 
tame. 
Durand, Ill. 
a ft FI 
Summer Memories 
By MARY RAY VANDERVORT 
ONE OF the pleasures of a bird-lover during the lonely winter months is 
remembering the sights and sounds of summer. I will never forget an 
evening in August at Tuma Slough. 
During the hot weather my companion and I frequently drove out to 
one of our favorite haunts toward evening, planning to arrive at the Slough 
just before sunset and the twilight. On this particular evening we first saw 
some American egrets, perhaps because we had only recently classified them 
and were watching for them. Quite a number of birds were coming in, 
eventually twenty-five or thirty. We immediately identified blue herons, 
both the great and little blues. Flycatchers were busily engaged in trees 
along the water’s edge. We watched the blue-winged teal, Virginia rail, 
semipalmated plover and killdeer feeding, and close by three beautiful least 
bitterns. 
A muskrat was attempting to carry something to shore or to its den 
without being seen while all the time he was leaving such a distinctive trail 
through the water. Some mallards, apparently alarmed by the muskrat, 
took wing. 
Then when our joy seemed complete, watching all these sights and 
sounds of nature amid a perfectly beautiful sunset, two sandhill cranes 
came in, which seemed almost an anti-climax. We watched them until dark 
as we had the opportunity for comparative study of the cranes and the big 
blue heron, both on the wing and feeding. The flight of the crane is dis- 
tinctive for while the great blue heron sometimes takes off with extended 
neck, he doesn’t continue to fly like the sandhill crane. Apparently the 
cranes were spending the night at the Slough and we ourselves were loathe 
to leave at dark. 
Chicago, Ill. ia ft sa 
THE NEW cover which the Bulletin bears for this number is the work of 
Earl G. Wright of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and a director of the 
Society. 
