DICKCISSEL 163 



Rancho, Tamaulipas, Apr. 15, 1938. It was noted daily from 

 April 22 to May 1, usually in small flocks in weed-grown fields. 

 Singing was heard from April on. A male coUected on April 27 

 had considerably enlarged testes. 



The above records indicate that the dickcissels do not leave Panama 

 and Central America until April, and some individuals may linger 

 into May. G. C. Williams (1945) states that dickcissels migrating 

 from their winter quarters follow the coastal region of Mexico and 

 Texas to reach then* breeding grounds. The many spring records 

 from that region confirm this route for a large percentage of the mdi- 

 viduals. Lowery (1945 and 1946), however, has shown that many 

 birds includmg at least some dickcissels, make the trans-Gulf migra- 

 tion.' Obviously certain contingents of dickcissels may take either 

 route (Stevenson, 1957). 



The first dickcissels arrive in Texas during April to breed in the 

 prairie sections of the State. Florence Merriam Bailey (1902) 

 writes: "When in southern Texas during the sprmg migration we 

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

 on the open prairie two to three hundred would be sitting m rows 

 on the wire fences like swaUows on telegraph wires. * * * When 

 not in compact flocks they were scattered through the chapparal 

 singinc^ on the tops of the bushes. Their song had a mouthed, furry 

 quaUty but was none the less sunny and enjoyable. When they are 

 on their breeding grounds their song is one of the pieasantest features 

 of the big grain fields." 



At Baton Rouge and New Orieans the dickcissels arrive regularly 

 on April 15th and are often abundant by April 20 (Lowery, 1945). 

 The eariiest record for Louisiana is of one seen at New Orieans on 

 Apr. 6, 1894 (Oberholser, 1938). 



In its continued route up the Mississippi flyway it arrives in Arkan- 

 sas the latter part of April or the first week of May. Baerg (1930) 

 has recorded the first arrivals in northwestern Arkansas for the years 

 1924-1928 as foUows: 1924, May 3; 1925, April 26; 1926, April 30; 

 1927 April 27; and 1928, May 1. Meanley and Neff (1953) state 

 that 'the dickcissel is now one of the most common breedmg pas- 

 serines in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas. The species was 

 not previously recorded as a winter resident in Arkansas, but the 

 authors found single birds during the winters of 1950-51 and 1951-52 

 associating with English sparrows about most of the farmyards they 

 visited The dickcissels fed with the sparrows in the barn lots, 

 on straw stacks, and m open sheds on dates ranging from mid-January 

 to April. 



646-737— 68— pt 1 13 



