262 



Bird - Lore 



from the plowed ground, for just as we were 

 finishing for the evening the bird would 

 fly off of her eggs. 



The evening after the last plowing, — 

 after we had planted all we wanted, — I 

 went to the place, and after considerable 

 search found the eggs where they had been 

 moved a short distance from the last 

 furrow. I visited the place on several 

 succeeding days, and found that the eggs 

 were not moved after the potato planting 

 was finished. — Angus McKinnon, De 

 Funiak Springs, Florida. 



The Dickcissel on Pine Ridge Indian 

 Reservation, South Dakota 



For a period of nearly three years I 

 closely observed the avifauna of Medicine 

 Root creek, a stream of Pine Ridge Indian 

 Reservation, in southwestern South Da- 

 kota. The period in mention extended 

 from October, 1901, to July, 1904, when 

 during this time not a single Dickcissel was 

 seen by me. In July, 1907, when I paid 

 a visit to this creek, and rode nearly its 

 entire length of about twenty-five miles, 

 I saw and heard at one point, on a broad 

 place in the valley, about twelve miles from 

 its confluence with Big White river, a 

 half-dozen or two of the birds in question, 

 among some plum trees and wolf-berry 

 bushes. I may here state that during the 

 period of approximately three years, men- 

 tioned above, I had observed, as oppor- 

 tunity permitted, the bird life of a large 

 portion of the reservation, a tract of land 

 about 100 long by 60 miles wide; and during 

 this time I had seen none of these birds 

 anywhere in the region. Of course they 

 are to be looked for only along the creek 

 valleys. Among the semi-arid hills and 

 higher plains they are not to be found. 



The Dickcissels seen by me on Medicine 

 Root, in July, 1907, however, were not the 

 first to be observed in the interval extend- 

 ing from the close of my first three years' 

 observation of the birds of the reservation 

 to that date. I left the reservation in July, 

 1904, and returned on April 22, 1905, tak- 

 ing up my station on Grass Creek, some 

 thirtv or thirtv-five miles west of mv former 



location on Medicine Root creek. I 

 remained here until August, 1906. This 

 creek, for the most part, has a broad plain 

 with many small trees and bushes and 

 wolfberry shrubs, — conditions favorable, 

 one would think, for the habitat of the 

 Dickcissel. I saw nothing of this species, 

 however, along Grass creek proper, at 

 any time. But on July 9, 1905, I saw one 

 of these birds, a male, in a little valley that 

 opens upon the plain of Grass creek, and 

 about a mile to the west of the point where 

 the two valleys join. The bird was seen 

 in a clump of bushes near a pool of stag- 

 nant water. It is to be suspected that the 

 female bird was near by, and that both 

 may have been in the vicinity for some 

 time. 



The next summer (1906), on Wounded 

 Knee creek, some five miles to the east of 

 Grass creek, I saw, on June 13, one Dick- 

 cissel, a male. Shortly afterwards I noted 

 several of these birds. They were seen 

 among some plum trees and wolfberry 

 shrubs, and were distributed at intervals 

 along a tract about half a mile in length. 

 The next summer(i907) when passing by 

 on horseback, I saw them along this tract 

 again, and, I estimate, in increased num- 

 bers. The year before, (August, 1906), 

 I had been transferred to Lake creek, 

 about forty-five miles to the southeast of 

 my former station on Medicine Root. 

 That summer I saw no Dickcissels at my 

 new station, but the following year (1907),. 

 they appeared suddenly, in large numbers, 

 on June 13 — ^mark the date! — and became 

 immediately common. The quality of the 

 bird music of the valley was suddenly 

 changed, and the notes of the Dickcissels 

 were heard above all others. About two 

 weeks after the above date I found a nest 

 containing four eggs. 



From the observations given above we 

 must conclude that this erratic Bunting 

 has recently come to Pine Ridge Reser- 

 vation, and is increasing in numbers there 

 with each visit. — H. TuLLSEN. 



Migration in New Mexico 



The autumnal tide of Warblers began 

 to flow down upon Fort Stanton, Nev? 



