272 Nesting of the DicTccissel. 



not waste much time about it because I thought it quite 

 liikely that there was no nest at all. However, as It proved, 

 there was a nest, and the reason I did not 'find it was that 

 I looked for it on the ground (sec plate). Dr. Butler, in 

 his excellent work on " Foreign Birds for Cage and Aviary," 

 quotes Gentry as saying that " the nest is almost always 

 on the ground," and Gentry is supported by Wilson, who 

 states that these Buntings " prefer level fields covered with 

 rye -grass, timothy, or clover, where they build their nest, 

 fixing it m (sic) the ground and forming it of fine dried 

 grass." I do not think, however, that Wilson knew very 

 Inuch about this species; he prefaces his remarks by the 

 announcement " Of this bird I ha^e but little to say," and 

 as we have noted, he was not correct in his description of the 

 female. Of course the sites chosen for nesting would vary 

 with the physical characteristics of the district where the 

 •nest was located, but it is noteworthy that a correspondent 

 of "0. & 0." speaking from actual observation in Texas, 

 aays: "they prefer the lower and damper parts and build 

 in the highest limb or top of an evergreen bush that is 

 found in the low spots of the region," and both the nests that 

 I have seen were certainly well off the ground, and in one 

 case as much as 4ft. from it. 



The male took no part in incubation and he did not 

 feed the female; he devoted himself entirely to his musical 

 studies. Under date 3rd July, I have the following note: 

 " Spizas apparently feeding; if so, my date for incubation 

 wrong.." On the 9th, I isaw the male removing foeces and "this 

 was the first time that I saw him take any interest in the 

 nest; after this date he fed the young occasionally. 



;0n the 12th, two young Spizas flew; they were brown 

 on the crown and back, the Ujiper back having some well- 

 defined striations; breast pale huffish; superciliary streak buff. 

 They flew well. They soon commenced a partial moult, 

 their backs becoming more ash-coloured and about the ^Ist 

 July they developed dark moustachial streaks, sweeping back- 

 wards from the angle of the lower mandible — a singular mark- 

 ing, which has no counterpart in the adult plumage (the 

 adults have a spot of yellow at the angle of the beak). The 

 cheeks of the young were light brown and they had a few 



