THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



sunny open landscape more than the earnest, incessant calls of the Dick- 

 cissel. Even the farmer and the layman, whose chief interests may be in 

 the dollars and cents of the productive grain fields, cannot fail to have 

 their attention attracted by this bird as it loudly and lustily announces its 

 presence. The clear accented notes of the monotonous song at once sug- 

 gest the bird's common name — Dickcissel. In the middle west it is pop- 

 ularly and generally known as the 'Little Meadowlark,' a name that has 

 arisen because of its resemblance in miniature to the common Meadowlark. 

 Indeed, some very intelligent farmers believe the Dickcissels to be merely 

 small individuals of the larger and well known bird. The name Black- 

 throated Bunting, so often met with in the writings of the older authors, 

 is now less used by bird students. By the typical westerner who knows 

 the Dickcissel intimately, he is often referred to as 'Dick.' 



The Dickcissel contributes not only its beauty and song to its environ- 

 ment but does its bit in the economy of nature by consuming scores of de- 

 structive insects, as well as hundreds of seeds of obnoxious weeds, harmful 

 to the crops. In Central Illinois where the Dickcissel is at its best, it 

 ranks among the most abundant and important birds from an economic 

 point of view. The ornithological writings contain many notes pertaining 

 to the distributon of the Dickcissel, but very little has been contributed on 

 the life history of this interesting and important bird, which deserves 

 better and more general recognition. For this reason the author feels that 

 no apology is necessary in presenting the results of this study." 



Abundance and Distribution 



In commenting upon the abundance and distribution of the Dickcissel 

 in Illinois, Dr. Gross produces the following statistics obtained during 

 the bird surveys mentioned above : 



General Statistics Illinois Bird Survey — Summer, 1909. 



Section 



Time 



Acres 



on which 



birds were 



counted. 



No. of 



birds 



counted 



on 50-yd. 



strip. 



No. of 

 species. 



No. of 

 Dickcis- 

 sels 

 counted 

 on 50-yd. 

 strip. 



No. of 

 Dickcis- 

 sels. 



per sq. 

 mile. 



Order of 

 Dickcis- 

 sel 

 abund- 

 ance. 



Northern 



June 30 



4794 



7647 



71 



96 



12.83 



5th. 



Illinois 



Sept. 15 















Central 



June 22 



3807 



6368 



67 



147 



24.72 



5th. 



Illinois 



Sept. 4 















Southern 



June 8 



3023 



3973 



81 



110 



23.28 



7th. 



Illinois 



Aug. 26 







- 









Totals 



11624 



17988 



117 



353 



18.9 



11th. 



