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One day at Orland Wildlife Sanctuary I was hiking alone when I heard 
a peculiar call, very ventriloqual, for it sounded as though it was right 
under my feet. I had been told that the chat had a number of different 
calls, but up to this time had not heard them so did not realize what it 
could be. I thought I was stepping on a mouse, snake, or rodent of some 
kind. It was a queer sort of meow repeated several times. Not finding 
anything under my feet I looked up to see the chat looking at me, and 
all I could say was, ‘‘You rascal!” Here I learned the chat’s calls and 
from then on was to know them whenever heard and not be deceived by 
him again. 
I was to see him next at Mrs. Smith’s, on the Desplaines River, and 
become still better acquainted. Standing semi-hidden, I could see him and 
watch him give the calls over and over again, among them the whistle for 
the dog, which some of the books tell about. A trip to Depue, on the 
Illinois River, was rewarded by seeing and hearing several birds calling 
back and forth. On a trip to Mr. Ridgeway’s “Bird Haven” at Olney, 
Illinois, I heard the chat calling but was unable to venture into the swamp 
because of briars and thick undergrowth. It was best not to go into a 
strange location without boots. 
Up to this time each habitat had been the same: swampy, with lots of 
brush, trees, and swamp weeds and grasses, a good place for snakes. This 
environment must provide food to his liking. Then on a trip to Waukegan 
a friend and I found him nesting on the edge of a swamp, adjoining a 
ravine and a bluff. This was getting away from the center of a swamp a 
little. This bird evaded us to distraction, and as this friend had not seen 
the chat for years it was disappointing to know that he was only a few 
yards from us and still not be able to get a glimpse of him. No means 
we used was of any avail, so we practically gave up trying and started 
away, when all at once he came out in full view on the path ahead of us, 
and then was in no hurry to leave us. Here we were also to see the 
hummingbird swinging in the are of his nuptial flight. 
At the Arboretum, while riding along the extreme eastern side on 
Prairie Road, friends and I were surprised by a peculiar call unlike any 
we had heard and could not figure out what bird it could be until up flew 
a chat to the top of a tree. He sat there looking at us, giving the same 
call over and over, and though we watched for some time he did not vary 
it with his other calls. The next day three other friends and I were there 
to see him and he was very accommodating, giving many, if not all, of his 
calls. There was a dense green hedge of low bushes along the fence which 
divides the Arboretum from pasture land beyond. Two weeks later other 
friends were with me and the chat was still calling, but now the green 
hedge was a bower of wild roses and it was a beautiful sight. No wonder 
the chat chose such a spot for his nest with his mate and three or four 
babies. This breeding ground was different from any of the others and was 
the driest of all, though a small sanctuary lagoon was not far away and a 
small drainage stream flowed close by. 
Here we saw bluebirds, robins, doves, towhees, indigo buntings, Carolina 
wren, chickadees, and heard the short-billed marsh wren just over the fence. 
