270 Nesting of the Dickcissel. 



bright orange -yellow; crown and nape ash-grey; back a warm 

 brown, boldly striated with black; wing-coverts "chestnut; 

 underside of flexure of wing yellow; superciliary stripe yellow; 

 the centre of throat covered by a heart-shaped area of deep 

 black which sometimes extends down over the breast; beak 

 bluish. Females are of two types, one having the throat un- 

 marked and the other having a few dark feathers in the centre. 

 Wilson states that the female does not possess the yellow 

 stripe over the eye; as far as I can judge from the two 

 specimens I have possessed, this is incorrect. 



Tn its habits this species closely resembles the ,CirI 

 Bunting, especially in its habit of perching on the top of a 

 hedge or the 'lower bough of a tree, repeating for an hour at 

 a time its monotonous and unmelodious song, which may be 

 rendered "chip-chee: chip-chip-chee." Like the Cirl Bunt- 

 ing, too, it is a very shy bird, taking cover as soon as any- 

 one approaches. 



A few individuals have been imported from time to 

 time but it has always been a rare bird in the market. 

 Mr. Thorpe imported two males some years since and, if I 

 remember rightly, sent me one that died for identification. 

 Mr. Cross, of Liverpool, imported eight a year later and it 

 was from him that I obtained the only two females that I have 

 seen. I know that others have been sold as females and 

 may have been of this sex, but one of the many aviculturists 

 who come to have a look at my birds and who was convinced 

 that he possessed a true pair, after seeing my TDreeding hen, 

 had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that his birds 

 were tM^o males. Dr. Russ seems to have been acquainted 

 with this species, which he called the " Black-breasted Bunt- 

 ing," (" Der schwarzbrustige Ammer"): he tells us that in 

 Germany also females are very rarely imported and that 

 for that reason it has not been bred there. 



I had a pair of Dickcissels in an outdoor aviary in 

 1910, but they did not breed and I lost the female in the 

 autumn. This season I tried the same male and another 

 female with better success. Try as one may to prevent it, 

 it generally happens that several species will select some 

 particular corner of an aviary and make frantic efforts to 



