FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 377 



GENUS SPIZA. 



604. Spiza americana (GyneL). Dickcissel. 



Bill stout, conical, compressed ; wing- long- and pointed ; tarsus longer 

 than middle toe with claw. Adult, male : under parts whit- 

 ish, with variable black throat patch and yellow breast, 

 yellow sometimes deepening- to salmon in the breeding- 

 season ; wing- with deep rufous patch ; forehead, lores, 

 superciliary, and malar stripe waslied with yellow ; head 

 and neck gray, top of head usually olivaceous ; back 

 brownish, streaked with black. Adult female : similar, , 



but duller, yellow more restricted, often wanting, except '^' 



on bretist ; throat white, bordered by dusky streaks ; the black of the 

 male usually wanting. Young in Jirst winter : like adult female, but 

 everywhere tinged with dull buffy or clay color. Male : length (skins) 

 S.o.VC).:]!, wing o.U-o.oS, tail 2.17-2.42, 'bill .."jS-.C)!. Female: length 

 (skins) 5.50-5.74, wing 2.1)4-0.05, tail 1.97-2.17, bill .50-.5(). 



Distr-ibution. — Breeds chiefly in Upper Sonoran zone of the central 

 eastern United States from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains. 

 Colorado, and Wyoming ; and from Ontario south to Texas ; casually 

 southwest to Arizona and Lower California ; migrates to northern South 

 America. 



Nest. — Largely of dried grasses, built near the ground in bushes or 

 low weeds, on meadows or prairies. Eggs : 3 to 5, plain pale blue. 



Food. — Largely grasshoppers and crickets ; also grain and weed seed. 



When in southern Texas during the spring migration we met with 

 flocks of dickcissels on their way to the north. In places on the 

 open prairie two or three hundred Avould be sitting in rows on the 

 wire fences like swallows on telegraph wires. They could be re- 

 cognized at a distance by their outlines — round heads and straight 

 hanging tails. When not in compact flocks they were scattered 

 through the chapparal singing on the tops of the bushes. Their song 

 had a mouthed, furry quality, but was none the less sunny and enjoy- 

 able. When they are on their breeding grounds their song is one of 

 the pleasantest features of the l)ig grain fields. 



GENUS CALAMOSPIZA. 



605 Calamospiza melanocorys %;n. Lark Bintino. 



Bill conical, much dee])er than broad at base, gently convex at tip and 

 ba.se, nearly straight in middle ; wing about four times as l(»ng as t;irsus. 

 its tip abnost truncated ; tail about three fourths as long a.s wing, much 

 more than ba.sal half overlaid by ujjper coverts: slightly double-rounded 

 or nearlv even, feathers rather narrow. Adult nude in summer: whole bird 

 black or slaty exce])t for white patcli on wings and sometimes white marks 

 on tail feathers. Adult femide in summer: above grayish brown, streaked 

 with l)la(;kish ; wing patch restricted and tinged witli })uffy : tail except 

 iiiiildle feathers spotted with white; under jtarts white, streaked on breast 

 :ind sides. Adult wale in winter: similar to female, but wings and tail 

 blackish instead of brown, .-iiid feathers of lower parts black beneath the 

 surface aiul showing througli more or le.ss ; chin black. Adult female in 

 wintir: like summer female, but less grayisli and nu)re buffy. Vtmng: 



