334 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Spiza americana (Gmelin) 



Dickcissel 



Emberiza americana Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1789. 1:872 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 155, fig. 3 

 Spiza americana A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 287. No. 604 

 spiza, Gr., aicfiia, a small bird, the Chaffinch (Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson) 



Description. Male: Upper parts grayish brown streaked on the back 

 with blackish; side's of the neck gray; lesser and middle wing coverts chest- 

 nut; breast bright yellow; a large black patch on the lower throat usually more 

 or less crescentric in shape; superciliary stripe and maxillary spot yellow; 

 chin and patch below the side of the throat and belly white. Female: 

 Similar, but much duller and the black patch replaced with black streaks. 



Length 6 inches; wing 3.2; tail 2.35; bill .55. 



Distribution. The Dickcissel, or Black-throated bunting, breeds in the 

 Mississippi valley from Minnesota and Wisconsin south to Texas, and 

 winters in Central and South America. It was formerly common in the 

 middle states east of the AUeghanies, but has now almost entirely dis- 

 appeared from that region. In the days of DeKay and Giraud, and to 

 a less extent at the time of the publication of the Lawrence catalog, the 

 Dickcissel was still common on Long Island, but now it has entirely dis- 

 appeared. DeKay speaks of it as breeding throughout the southeastern 

 and western portions of the State, and Dutcher.(Auk, 10:276) speaks of 

 it as breeding commonly in Kings county in 1842. The specimens in the 

 collection of the Long Island Historical Society were taken at Flatlands 

 in 1846. In 1875 Mr W. W. Worthington considered it very rare at Shelter 

 island. Dutcher reports specimens taken at Millers Place in 1888. John- 

 son reports a specimen from Blithewood, Long Island, August 25, 1890; 

 and Doctor Dwight reports a specimen from Kingston, June 5, 1896. This 

 is the last report from New York. It was still breeding in eastern 

 Massachusetts in 1877 and 1878 according to the reports of Purdy and 

 Dean, and as late as July 1904, at Plainfield, N. J. (W. D. Miller, Auk, 21: 

 487). I have found only two reliable reports from western New York. 

 The late J. A. Dakin records having seen a small flock at TuUy, Onondaga 



