230 DICKCISSEL. 



"From its winter abode in tropical America," writes Dr. Elliott Coiles, "the Black- 

 throated Bunting enters the United States in April, in small troops. Vast numbers pass 

 up the Mississippi valley, some finding their final resting place in Iowa, but others 

 lingering to breed all along the route. Many spread westward over the prairies of 

 Kansas and Nebraska, and a part of the kost reaches the Middle Atlantic. States by the 

 latter part of the month, some even penetrating eastward to southern New England, 

 which forms their terminus. • Rearing their young in nearly all parts of this great extent 

 of land, from Texas to Nebraska, and New England, they depart before the approach of 

 cold weather to their homes far south." 



While no brilliancy of coloration can be claimed for the Dickcissel, it is nevertheless 

 a handsome bird, "with tasteful color contrasts, trim form, and a peculiarly smooth, neat 

 plumage." Arriving in more or less numerous flocks and being not at all parsimonious 

 with their musical ability, their presence cannot be overlooked even by the inattentive. 

 In Missouri the whole migrating flock mounts an isolated tree, preferably an apple tree, 

 and each individual utters its ditty as loud and noisy as possible. This monotonous con- 

 cert can often be heard for a quarter of a mile. Often for an hour the flocks remain in the 

 same tree, uttering incessantly and untiringly their peculiar notes. When disturbed they 

 fly to another treie in order to continue their music. Apparently these noisy troops are 

 old males, the females arriving quietly a few days later.* This peculiar bird-concert can be 

 heard for a few days, when the birds migrate northward, or the flocks dissolve. In the 

 northern parts of the country they usually inhabit clover and timothy fields, while in 

 Missouri, Illinois, and Texas they are partial to prairies. The open tree and bushless 

 prairie does not suit the taste of the Dickcissel, but where a fence is found or a few 

 isolated trees and bushes, on which the males can perch in order to sing and watch, 

 they settle. Woods, hills, and swamps are avoided entirely. Neither too dry nor too 

 wet places are chosen for their abode. Often we meet with the bird in localities where 

 once the land has been covered with woods, having settled and increased in numbers 

 with the increase of cultivation. In south-western Missouri I often found the nest in 

 corn-fields and in Wisconsin quite often in fields of peas. Wherever the bird occurs it is 

 easily detected. Its abundance in all favorable localities, its confidence and tameness 

 and its noisy ditty soon attract our attention. Prof. Robert Ridgway, who observed it 

 abundantly near Mount Carmel, 111., writes as follows: 



"While some other birds are equally numerous, there are few that announce their 

 presence as persistently as this species. All day long, in spring and summer, the males, 

 sometimes to the number of a dozen or more for each meadow of considerable extent, 

 perch upon the summits of tall w^eed-stalks or fence-stakes, at short intervals crying 

 out : See, see-Dick-cissel, cissel; therefore Dickcissel is well-known to every farmer's boy 

 as well as to all who visit the country during the season of clover blooms and wild 

 roses, when Nature is in her most joyous mood. Perhaps the prevalent name of this 

 species is Little Field Lark, or Little Meadow Lark, a name suggested by its yellow 



• Mr. Otto Widmann, of St. Louis, Mo., gives the following report of their spring migration in 1884: "April 86, 

 the first breeder and two transients; April 28, still scarce; April 29, bulk of males arrived, many at stands and often 

 seen on the wing going east ; April 30, males noisy at stands ; May 5, bulk of females arrived. This was the height of 

 the mating season. Several parties were seen on the wing going east in the morning. May 9, young males arrived; 

 May 20, young birds were still coming, and the species was usually seen in pairs." 



