FAMILY ICTERIDAE 



335 



of eye white; crown, nape, sides of head and of breast gray; crown 

 tinged greenish; rest of upper surface brown, with upper back streaked 

 blackish; wing coverts reddish brown; remiges and rectrices blackish 

 brown; tertials edged light brown; upper throat white; moustachial 

 stripe begins white, becomes rich yellow and terminates white; lower 

 throat and upper breast black in shape of a V; rest of breast and center 

 of belly rich yellow; rest of undersurface white; bend of wing dark 

 yellow; underwing coverts white, tinged yellow. 



Male in basic plumage duller, with feathers of black bib tipped buff. 



Female, like male, but duller, with crown and nape light brown in- 

 stead of gray, a thin gray stripe on sides of throat and across bottom 

 of throat; yellow less extensive and black absent. 



M easurements. — Males ( 10 from the breeding range, taken in May ) , 

 wing 78.1-84.8 (82.1), tail 51.4-61.5 (58.0), oilmen from base 14.3- 

 15.8 (15.1), tarsus 21.4-23.4 (22.4) mm. 



Females (10 from the breeding range, taken in April and May), 

 wing 70.5-77.2 (74.6), tail 50.3-58.6 (54.3), oilmen from base 13.3- 

 15.5 (14.6), tarsus 19.3-22.6 (21.3) mm. 



Migrant and winter visitor from the north. Fairly common and 

 sometimes abundant as a migrant on the Pacific slope; on the Carib- 

 bean slope more erratic. Less common in winter, mainly on the Pacific 

 slope. Most of the population winters in northern South America. In 

 Chiriqui, the Dickcissel has been collected as high as 1200 m at Boquete, 

 where W. W. Brown, Jr., took a male on January 24, 1901 (Bangs, 

 Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 3, 1902, p. 70). In January of 

 1956, I found 2 in a pasture on Isla Coiba, off the Pacific coast. This 

 species is commonest during September and April, but first appears in 

 late August (Ridgely, 1976, p. 332) and stragglers remain until May 

 and June — there is 1 specimen from June 16 (Eisenmann, Smiths. 

 Misc. Coll., vol. 117, no. 5, 1952, p. 57). One banded at Almirante, 

 Bocas del Toro, on October 18, 1963, was recovered at Algarrobo, 

 Magdalena, Colombia, in February 1964 (Loftin, Rogers, and Hicks, 

 Bird-Banding, 1966, p. 43). Although less common on the Caribbean 

 slope, Wedel took several in San Bias at Perme and Obaldia between 

 September 11 and May 10 (Griscom, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool, vol. 72, 

 1932, p. 372). 



As a migrant, the Dickcissel is sometimes extraordinarily numerous. 

 I have seen flocks containing thousands of birds. When flushed from 

 the ground they resemble shorebirds, until they land in a tree; after 

 ascertaining that all is safe they drop down to the ground again. They 

 call constantly, giving twitters and more raspy notes. Skutch (A Nat- 



