DICKCISSEL 169 



of all who might pass. A barbed-wire fence that ran through the 

 thicket also helped protect the nest from trampling by stray animals 

 or people. The fence, as well as the nearby telephone poles and wires, 

 provided excellent sentinel posts for the male and convenient perches 

 for the cautious female when she went to and from her nest. 



A blind was built in the taU weeds along the fence about 12 feet 

 from the nest and completely covered with cut grasses and weeds. 

 The day after the blind was completed the birds were conducting 

 their home hfe in an apparently normal way and, so far as could 

 be determined, they paid little attention to the blind. The female 

 flew from the nest when I entered the blind the fii-st time, but after 

 a few minutes she returned to the telephone wires overhead to utter 

 in unison with her mate the usual chirps of disapproval. The two 

 birds continued chirping for about 25 minutes, when the female flew 

 down to the fence close to the nest. Something seemed to arouse 

 her suspicions, for she returned almost immediately to her mate. 

 She now exhibited her uneasiness by flying repeatedly back and forth 

 between the telephone wires and the fence. Suddenly, and for no 

 apparent reason except possibly for deception, she flew far across 

 the fields as if abandoning all desire to return to the nest. The male 

 now ceased chirping and tuned up to his fuU song. In 10 minutes 

 the female returned to the telephone wire and without hesitation 

 flew to the fence post nearest her nest. From that point she carefully 

 surveyed her surroundings, and especiaUy scrutinized the blind 

 where a human being had so recently disappeared. The male now 

 sang louder than ever, but his mate did not utter the faintest chirp. 

 The situation seeming favorable, she slipped into the weeds and noise- 

 lessly made her way to her nest. The birds played their parts well 

 and without doubt their shrewdness misleads many enemies. 



The birds repeated this performance on following visits to the 

 nest, but after a few days they paid little attention to my coming 

 and going. Nor did they seem to be disturbed by the teams and 

 automobiles that passed along the road. Even when the driver 

 sounded his horn directly opposite the nest the birds made no visible 

 response. However, when an automobile or team stopped in the 

 road near the brooding female, she invariably scooted off the nest into 

 the grass. If the people came no nearer and their actions seemed free 

 of suspicion, she returned to the nest; otherwise she flew to the 

 telephone wires to chirp until they left. The female then took her 

 usual precautions in retm-ning to the nest, while the male seemed to 

 sing with the purpose of attracting any attention that might otherwise 

 be directed toward his mate. 



At the time the young hatch the female's behavior undergoes a 

 noticeable change, though the male seems unmoved and unchanged 



