FAM. XIII. FINCHES, SPARBOWS, ETC. 



141 



52. Dickcissel (604. Spiza americ(lna). — A yellow-breasted, 

 black-throated, streaky-backed, sparrow-like bird with a red- 

 dish spot on the bend of 

 the wing. The chin 

 abov^e the black throat 

 is white, with more or 

 less of yellow on the 

 cheeks, and the crown 

 and side of head are 

 gray, with a yellow line 

 over the eye. The back 

 is brownish, streaked 

 with black, and the belly 

 whitish. Female duller 

 and with but little yel- 

 low except on the breast, 

 and the black throat 

 patch almost wanting, 

 sometimes slightly in- Dickcissel 



dicated by dusky spots. In summer it is abun- 

 dant west of the Alleghanies in weedy 

 fields, and the common notes it utters 

 are expressed by its name. (Black- 

 throated Bunting.) 



Length, 6| ; wing, 3^ 

 (2|-3|) ; taili^ 2\ ; tarsus, 

 I ; culmeii, ^ ormore. East- 

 ern United States to the 

 Rocky Mountains; breed- 

 ing from Texas to southern 

 Ontario, and wintering in 

 northern Soutli America. 

 Very rare east of the Alle- 

 ghanies. 



Lark Bunting 



53. Lark Bunting (605. Calamospiza melanocdrys). — A w^est- 

 ern, square-tailed, stout-billed, black bird, with a large white 

 patch on the wings. The female (also the male in autumn and 



