DICKCISSEL. 



R. P. M. SILLOWAY, in 

 his charming sketches, 

 " Some Common Birds," 

 writes : "The Car- 

 dinal frequently 

 whistles the most gaily while seated 

 in the summit of the bush which 

 shelters his mate on her nest. It is 

 thus with Dickcissel, for though his 

 ditties are not always eloquent to us, 

 he is brave in proclaiming his happi- 

 ness near the fountain of his inspira- 

 tion. While his gentle mistress 

 patiently attends to her household in 

 some low bush or tussock near the 

 hedge, Dick flutters from perch to 

 perch in the immediate vicinity and 

 voices his love and devotion. Once I 

 flushed a female from a nest in the 

 top of an elm bush along a railroad 

 while Dick was proclaiming his name 

 from the top of a hedge within twenty 

 feet of the site. Even while she was 

 chirping anxiously about the spot, 

 apprehending that her home might be 

 harried by ruthless visitors, he was 

 brave and hopeful, and tried to sus- 

 tain her anxious mind by ringing forth 

 his cheerful exclamations." 



Dick has a variety of names, the 

 Black -throated Bunting, Little Field 

 Lark, and "Judas-bird." In general 

 appearance it looks like the European 

 House Sparrow, averaging a trifle 

 larger. 



The favorite resorts of this Bunting 

 are pastures with a sparse growth of 

 stunted bushes and clover fields. In 

 these places, its unmusical, monoton- 

 ous song may be heard thoughout the 

 day during the breeding season. Its 

 song is uttered from a tall weed, stump, 



or fence-stake, and is a very pleasing 

 ditty, says Davie, when its sound is 

 heard coming far over grain fields and 

 meadows, in the blaze of the noon- day 

 sun, when all is hushed and most other 

 birds have retired to shadier places. 



As a rule, the Dickcissels do not 

 begin to prepare for housekeeping 

 before the first of June, but in advanced 

 seasons the nests are made and the 

 eggs deposited before the end of May. 

 The nest is built on the ground, in 

 trees and in bushes, in tall grass, or in 

 clover fields. The materials are 

 leaves, grasses, rootlets, corn husks, 

 and weed sterns ; the lining is of fine 

 grasses, and often horse hair. It is a 

 compact structure. Second nests are 

 sometimes built in July or August. 

 The eggs number four or five, almost 

 exactly like those of the Bluebird. 



The summer home of Dickcissel is 

 eastern United States, extending 

 northward to southern New England 

 and Ontario, and the states bordering 

 the great lakes. He ranges westward 

 to the edge of the great plains, 

 frequently to southeastern United 

 vStates on the migration. His winter 

 home is in tropical regions, extending 

 as far south as northern South 

 America. He is commonly regarded 

 as a Lark, but is really a Finch. 



In the transactions of the Illinois 

 Horticultural Society, Prof. S. A. 

 Forbes reports that his investigations 

 show that sixty-eight per cent, of the 

 food of the Dickcissels renders them 

 beneficial to horticulture, seven per 

 cent, injurious, and twenty-five per 

 cent neutral, thus leaving a large 

 balance in their favor. 



THOUGHTS. 



Who knows the joy a flower knows 



When it blows sweetly ? 

 Who knows the joy a bird knows 



When it goes fleetly ? 



Bird's wing and flower stem 



Break them, who would ? 

 Bird's wing and flower stem 



Make them, who could ? 



Harper's Weekly. 



146 



