BUNTINGS 255 



During its short stay with us it is one of the few useful species 

 seen much about the garden, and is of some service in the 

 orchard."* 



PAINTED BUNTING; NONPAREIL: PasseriTUt ciris dris 



(Linnaeus). 



State records. — The painted bunting, or nonpareil, although 

 occurring in Mississippi and in the coast region of Georgia, is 

 found in Alabama only as a rare straggler. The only records 

 of its occurrence are from the vicinity of Mobile. Dr. A. K 

 Fisher observed a single male of this species, May 13, 1886, 

 in the northern suburbs of Mobile. A bird answering the 

 description of this species was reported to me from the vicinity 

 of Mobile by A. B. Taylor, who stated that he observed it every 

 spring near his home. This brilliant little bird has long been 

 prized as a cage bird and many thousands were formerly 

 trapped for that purpose. Whether this accounts for its scar- 

 city in Alabama is not known. 



General habits. — The painted bunting is said to inhabit 

 thickets, hedges, and the borders of woodland, preferring the 

 neighborhood of streams. Its song, according to Nuttall, 

 much resembles that of the indigo bird, but is more feeble and 

 concise. 



DICKCISSEL: Spiza americana (Gmelin). 



State records. — ^The dickciasel, or black-throated bunting, 

 has a rather restricted distribution in Alabama. It occurs 

 commonly as a summer resident in the Central Prairie Belt, 

 but outside of this area is recorded only from Leighton and 

 Talladega. It breeds at both these places and also in southern 

 Hale C!ounty and at Autaugaville (rarely) and Barachias 

 (abundantly). McCormack, writing in 1891, speaks of it as 

 formerly rare at Leighton but increasing in numbers. Within 

 a few years, however, the bird disappeared, probably because 

 the clover fields in which it bred were turned to other crops ; 

 McCormack has not observed it in recent years, and I failed to 

 find it there on several visits between 1911 and 1914. A 



•Forbush, E. H., Useful Birds and Their Protection, p. 298, 1907. 



