DICKCISSEL. 231 



breast and black jugular spot, which recall strongly the similar markings of the Meadow 

 Lark, and also the fact that the two frequent similar localities. The name Black- 

 throated Bunting is probably never heard except from those who have learned it from 

 the books." 



When singing the male always mounts some high object, be it a fence-stake, a bush 

 or a weed-stem, occupying the same position as shown on our plate (XXVII). As a 

 vocalist we must rate it a very humble performer even during the mating season. "Its 

 song is short and simple, even weak, and grows monotonous with repetition through 

 the season of incubation, when the male, from the highest perch he can find near his 

 nest, cheers his faithful mate w^ith the assurance of his presence and protection. He 

 seems to say, look! look! see me here! see! And if we do not like his performance, we 

 may remember we are not asked to listen." (Dr. Elliott Coues.) 



Where one pair nests, others are found in the immediate neighborhood. In the 

 prairie region near Spring Creek, Texas, I found almost on every acre of ground a pair, 

 and on the sunny, bright mornings the entire flower-adorned grassy prairie seemed 

 to re-echo with their music. The nest is always placed on the ground, usually in a slight 

 depression on the side of a tuft of grass, a bunch of clover, or a herbaceous perennial 

 flower. In Texas I found the structure always in the prairie grass, in Missouri often 

 near corn-stalks. Externally it is built of plant-stems, grasses, corn-leaves, and the 

 lining consists of fine grasses. The eggs, usually four, rarely five in number, are uniform 

 light blue, exactly like those of the Bluebird. Several ornithologists report that the 

 Dickcissel in some localities departs from its usual habit of building on the ground. 

 They found the nest several inches and in some cases several feet from the ground. In 

 some parts of Illinois the structure was discovered in the tops of grasses, usually 

 worked in among a bunch of thick grass, so as to make it quite firm. The late 

 Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., states that he never found the nest on the ground. He 

 w^rites that during one season he visited and made notes of nineteen different nests. 

 Ten of these were built in gooseberry bushes, four on thorn bushes, three among black- 

 berry brambles, one on a raspberry bush, and one on a wild rose. None were within a 

 foot of the ground and some were six feet from it. A few miles north and west of 

 Racine, where I had an opportunity to observe these birds, they invariably had their 

 nests on the ground. It was already remarked by Audubon that the Dickcissel appears 

 to avoid certain districts, both in its migrations and for breeding, giving preference to 

 fertile portions of the country, and in settling down to breed will make capricious choice 

 of particular spots and confine itself to them. The fact of its becoming abundant in 

 regions where it was scarce before, is also attested, but remains in many cases unexplained. 



Its food consists largely of grasshoppers and all kinds of insects living on grass. 

 In fall and winter it also subsists on the seeds of grasses and weeds. The Dickcissel is 

 always and everywhere a highly beneficial bird. 



These birds leave for their winter-quarters early. In eastern Wisconsin and northern 

 Illinois they commence to move southward early in September. In south-western 

 Missouri none were seen by the end of that month, and in south-eastern Texas they 

 leave for their winter home early in October. The Dickcissel winters abundantly in 

 Central America as far south as northern South America. 



