6i4 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. IX. 



edged with bright yellow; wings and tail, fuscous brown; middle 

 and lesser wing coverts, bright chestnut, forming a chestnut "shoul- 

 der" patch; belly and crissum, whitish; sides of body, washed with 

 gray. 



Adult female: Similar to the male, but smaller and paler, and with- 

 out the black patch on the throat ; breast more or less streaked with 

 blackish. 



Length, about 6.60; wing, 3.25; tail, 2.50; bill, .52. 



This species is a common summer resident in Illinois and Wis- 

 consin, arriving from the south in May and breeding throughout 

 both states. Wherever it occurs it makes its presence known, as it 

 is a persistent songster. The notes are strong and clear and may be 

 described as see-see, dick-cissel, cissel. Prof. Ridgway says: 



"The location of the nest varies much with locality, though 

 probably not more than in the case of many other species. At 

 Mount Carmel, all that I found were in clover fields, and built upon 

 or very close to the ground. In Richland County they were almost 

 invariably built in small clumps of coarse weeds, at a height of about 

 a foot above the ground. In Wisconsin, however, according to Dr. 

 Brewer (Hist. N. Am. B., Vol. II, p. 68), Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, 

 has never found a nest within one foot of the ground, some of them 

 being as elevated as six feet. Of nineteen nests discovered by Dr. 

 Hoy during one season, 'ten were built in gooseberry bushes, four 

 on thorn bushes, three among blackberry bushes, one on a raspberry 

 bush, and one on a wild rose.' " (Orn. of 111., 1889, p. 304.) 



The nest is composed of leaves and grass, often in meadows and 

 prairies and at times in bushes. The eggs are 4 to 5, pale blue in 

 color, and measure about .80 x .60 inches. 



The Field Museum collection contains the following sets of eggs 

 taken in northern Illinois and Wisconsin: 3 eggs, Joliet, 111., May 26, 

 1906; I egg, Joliet, 111., May 28, 1906; 4 eggs, Joliet, 111., June 4, 

 1906; 4 eggs, Columbus, Wisconsin, May 25, 1892. 



Family TANGARIDtE. Tanagers. 



The Tanagers number some 300 species, most of which are found 

 in Central and South America. They are arboreal, frequenting 

 wooded localities and are both frugivorus and insectivorous. Most 

 of the males are highly colored. A single genus (Piranga) occurs 

 in eastern North America, two species of which are found in Illinois, 



