172 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



chestnut, streaked with black ; lesser and middle wing coverts 

 cinnamon rufous ; greater wing coverts dusky centrally, edged 

 with pale- wood brownish ; rump similar but paler, and with- 

 out streaks ; upper tail coverts brownish gray with dusky shaft 

 streaks ; chin white ; throat black ; sides gray, and abdomen 

 white ; legs and feet brown ; toes long, slender and furnished 

 with long, well curved claws. The adult female is similar to 

 the male, except that there is less yellow on her breast; the 

 black patch on the throat is replaced by spots or streaks and 

 the top of the head is more brownish. 



As I have already stated, the summer range of the dick- 

 cissel has changed, and now its range extends from Columbia 

 and Trinidad north to Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota and 

 North Dakota. Its breeding range extends from South Caro- 

 lina to Ontario and from the Allegheny Mountains to the base 

 of the Rocky Mountains. They come north about the first of 

 May and return south during the first half of August. The 

 males come north in flocks and in advance of the females. In 

 the vicinity of Indianapolis they are abundant in the upland 

 meadows. The nesting season begins in May. The nest is 

 made on or near to the ground, of leaves, grasses, rootlets, 

 corn husks and weed stems ; the lining is of fine grass and often 

 horse hair, and is built by the female. Mr. Baskett in his 

 Story of the Birds, says, "the most casual observer may 

 note how very fastidious they (the birds) are in choosing the 

 proper location and material for their homes, especially the 

 latter. * * * After a certain substance is chosen, how- 

 ever, the birds continue to use that from a certain definite re- 

 gion. Thus a dickcissel selected one year all her straws from 

 the midst of a meadow which seemed to the observer to have 

 the same material on its nearer edge. It may be just possible 

 that a convenient dead weed on which her mate sat and sang 

 while she worked had something to do with it, for he went 

 with her to the neighborhood of the nest and sang there and 

 then preceded her to the dead weed again." The eggs are 

 pale blue and three to five constitute a clutch. 



Mr. Ridgway, in his Birds of Illinois, says: "While some 

 other birds are equally numerous, there are few that announce 

 their presence as persistently as this species. All day long, in 



