160 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



aboard a ship 140 miles off Cape Charles, Va., 1 female (Holt, 1932). 

 These many records in 1928 gave observers reason to believe the 

 dickcissel was staging a substantial comeback in the east. The 

 dickcissels have fluctuated in numbers there ever since, but with 

 no notable increase over the numbers reported in 1928. 



The detailed summary of records of numbers in "New England Bird 

 Life" (1936-1944) and its successor, "Records of New England Birds" 

 (1945 to the present), are helpful, at least, in hinting at the status of 

 the dickcissel in New England from year to year. The number of birds 

 reported each year by these two publications are as follows: 1937, 1 

 1938, 3; 1939,1; 1940, 6; 1941, 1; 1942, 0; 1943, 3; 1944, 0; 1945, 4 

 1946, 18; 1947, 9; 1948, 19; 1949, 50; 1950, 51; 1951, 72; 1952, 122 

 1953, 288. This represents a total of 647 dickcissels in 398 separate 

 reports in the New England States alone. It will be seen that from 

 1948 on the increase was extraordinary. The 647 birds were distrib- 

 uted by States as follows: Maine 53, New Hampshire 6, Vermont 6, 

 Massachusetts 489, Rhode Island 44, and Connecticut 49. The 

 extremely large number reported from Massachusetts is due in part to 

 the larger number of active field observers in that State, but even so, 

 it is obvious that the density of the recent invasion of dickcissels in 

 New England is centered there. 



If we arrange the 647 New England records according to months of 

 the year we have the following: January 77, February 44, March 25, 

 April 28, May 4, June 0, July 0, August 34, September 128, October 

 114, November 88, and December 105. Thus the dickcissels appear 

 in New England during August, reach their maximum in September 

 and October, and then drop off slowly until April. Only 4 dickcissels 

 were reported in May for the 17 years of records; none was reported 

 for June and July. What becomes of the birds after the end of April 

 each year? I believe that most migrate back to their mid western 

 breeding grounds. 



Most of the reports tabulated above are for one or two birds, rarely 

 as many as three or five, the average being 1 .6 birds to a report. Many 

 winter records are of individuals that visit feeding stations where they 

 often associate with house sparrows. At the feeding stations these 

 two birds, somewhat similar in size and appearance but of different 

 families and radically different in nesting habits, have food habits in 

 common that bring them together. Observations at many feeding 

 stations have greatly augmented the number of records. In fact 

 feeding stations may be a factor in attracting them and encouraging 

 them to remain in New England throughout the winter. 



The records in the regional reports of the "Aubudon Field Notes" 

 indicate that the recent dickcissel invasion occupies the region from 

 the Middle Atlantic States through New England to maritime Canada. 



