DICKCISSEL 159 



and, according to numerous reports, apparently is becoming more so 

 throughout Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and 

 South Dakota. Today it is rapidly extending its breeding range to the 

 north and south as well as to the west of these states. 



The dickcissel is very erratic in its distribution. Its numbers, 

 even in the center of its nesting range, fluctuate greatly from jesiT to 

 year. A locality may have an abundance of dickcissels, only to have 

 them practically disappear after a few years. Sometimes this fluc- 

 tuation extends over so large an area of one or more States that we 

 may speak of "high" or ''low" years for the species. 



A most remarkable feature of this erratic bird has been its recession 

 from and its recent reoccupation of eastern North America. During 

 the 19th century it nested commonly in a wide range extending from 

 the CarolLnas through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York to 

 Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Stragglers were collected as far 

 south as Florida and as far north as New Hampshire and Nova Scotia 

 (Gross, 1921). By the end of the century it had practically disap- 

 peared from the vast area east of the Allegheny Mountams. Many 

 contemporary accounts tell of its diminution in numbers, and predic- 

 tions were freely made that it was destined to be completely extirpated 

 from this part of its former range. This happened during the first 

 quarter of the 20th century. It nested in Mississippi as late as 1900 

 (Stockard, 1905), and the last record of its breeding in the northern 

 section of this area was a nest found at Plainfield, N. J., on July 3, 

 1904, by W. De W. Miller (1904). It then disappeared, and the 

 mystery of its disappearance has never been solved. 



Just as baffling is the recent reappearance of great numbers in the 

 region it deserted 50 years ago. After 1920 stragglers again appeared 

 in the east, and a pair nested in Georgia in 1925, as reported by 

 Burleigh (1927a), but the year 1928 marks the date when the dickcissel 

 gave the greatest promise of a general return. In that year records 

 ranged all the way from localities in Florida, the Carolinas, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Maryland and New Jersey to the Bay of Fundy as follows, 

 arranged in chronological order: April 11, Pensacola, Fla. (Howell, 

 1932); April 26, Tallahassee, Fla., 1 male (Wflliams, 1929); May 18, 

 Columbia, S.C., 1 bird (Smyth, 1930); ^lay 19, Raleigh, N.C., 1 pair 

 (Snyder, 1928); May 25, Columbia, S.C, colony of 50 birds (Smyth, 

 1930); May 26, June 9, 18, Darling, Pa., 1 male, 1 male, 1 pair (Stone, 

 1928a; Smyth, 1930); June 5, S.C.-N.C. State line on Route 1, 1 bird 

 (Smyth, 1930); June 10-11, Sharptown, N.J., 1 male (Stone, 1928b); 

 July 15, 22, Dickerson, Md., 6 males, female feeding young (Wetmore 

 and Lincoln, 1928); August 6, Henderson ville, N.C., 2 males singing 

 (Pearson and the Brimleys, 1942); September 23, aboard a steamer in 

 the Baj^ of Fundy, a male in winter plumage (Rand, 1929); November 5, 



