DICKCISSEL. 155 



Some thirty or forty years ago the Dickeissel, or 

 Black-throated Bunting, was a locally common bird in 



Dickeissel ^^^^ Middle Atlantic States. !N"ow it is 



Sjpiza americana rarely found cast of the AlleghanieSj 

 Plato L\ I. ,^j^j even in the Mississippi Valley its 



range is becoming restricted, and it is of irregular distri- 

 bution. 



It migrates in large flocks, the males in the spring 

 being several days in advance of the females. About 

 May 1 it reaches the latitude of Chicago, and by the mid- 

 dle of the month is mated. The nest is placed on the 

 ground, or in low trees or bushes ; the eggs, four or live 

 in immber, are pale blue. 



In the work previously quoted from, Mr. Ridgway 

 writes of this species : " While some other birds are 

 equally numerous, there are few that announce their 

 presence as persistently as this species. All day long, 

 in spring and summer, the males, sometimes to the num- 

 ber of a dozen or more for each meadow of considerable 

 extent, perch upon the summits of tall weed stalks or 

 fence-stakes, at short iutervals, crying out : See, see — 

 Dick, Dick Cissel, Clssel ; therefore ' Dick Cissel ' is well 

 kno^vn to every farmer's boy as well as to all who visit 

 the country during the season pf clover blossoms and wild 

 roses, when ' Dame JS^ature 'ns in her most joyous mood." 



Tanagers. (Family Tanagridje.) 



The Tanagers, numbering some three hundred and 

 fifty species, are found only in America. Their home 

 is in the tropics, where they are among the most abun- 

 dant of birds. But two species reach the eastern United 

 States, the Summer Redbird of the South and our Scar- 

 let Tanager, both worthy representatives of a group 

 of birds which in brilliancy of color rival even the Hum- 



