-BANDING

A JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGICAL INVESTICATION

Vol. XXX January, 1959 No. 1.

THE BREEDING BEHAVIOR OF THE PAINTED BUNTING IN SOUTHERN By DAVID F. PARMELEE The Painted Bunting (Passerinaciris) is so intimatelya part of the avifauna of southeasternUnited States that many ornithologistsare surprisedto find it as commonin more westernparts of its range [The A. O. U. Check-List (1957: 554) states that it breeds as far west as New , ,and parts of Mexico]. In south-centralOklahoma it is amongthe very commonestof passerinebirds. Its great abundance in MarshallCounty near the north shoreof Lake Texomahas been well knownto investigatorsworking at the Universityof OklahomaBiological Stationsince its establishmentthere in 1950. This study dealschiefly with the populationof Painted Buntingson or near the station from June 15 to August 9, 1957. The original plan was to determine whether the subadult male of the speciesbred. In 1957, the numberof subadultmales in the popu- lation observedwas very small. The numberof fully adultmales, on the otherhand, was unexpectedly high. Consequently,the projectchanged to oneconcerned with the breedingbehavior of adult buntings,parti- cularlywith the role playedby eachsex at the nestand in careof young. The project startedtoo late in the seasonto includespring arrival of the buntings. Records(Baumgartner and Howell, 1947: 58; Nice, 1931: 176; Norman, unpubl. notes; Sutton, unpubl. notes) show that the speciesarrives at Oklahoma in late April. The earliest known arrival date.of April 17 is for CusterCounty, located west-centrally in the state (Nice, ibid.). The earliestarrival date for Marshall County is April 19; but apparentlythe speciesdoes not arrive there in force until the very last of April and the first of May (Sutton, ibid.). It is not certain which sex arrives first, or if the sexes arrive simul- taneously. Many April records are of singing males. The earliest knownarrival date of a femaleis April 30 (Sutton,ibid.), this having been recordedfor ClevelandCounty in the central part of the state. Earlier arrival dates may have been of either females or subadult males in female-likeplumage. Territorial disputesoccurred as early as May 5 in ClevelandCounty (Sutton, ibid.), and a full clutch of eggswas found as early as May 23 in MuskogeeCounty in northeast Oklahomaf Norman, ibid.). In SouthCarolina, male PaintedBuntings "alwayscome first, followed in about a week by the females" f Sprunt and Chamberlain, 1949: 515). In 1957, nestingof the Painted Buntingin Marshall County was well under way 'by mid-June. However, some early phasesof the breedingcycle, e.g., courtshipand nest construction,were continued 2] Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA Bird-BandingJanuary eveninto July. This repetitionwas due in part to excessivepredation causedby floodwaters which concentrated predators, and in part to double-broodedness.We neverdid see,or interpretas such,the actual establishmentof a nestterritory--the nesting area defendedby the male againstother males of the species. Those that had been estab- lishedearly in the seasonapparently were maintaineduntil the end of nesting. The first egg of a clutch was found June 9 on the station grounds(by D. H. Baepler). A juvenileestimated to be 23 daysold was collectedseveral miles northwestof the stationon June 24, indi- cating that egg-layingstarted sometimein mid-May. Except for a femaleseen leaving an inaccessiblenest that possiblyhad eggsor young during May 26-28 f Sutton,ibid.), there are no earlier datesof egg- laying for any year in Marshall County, so far as known. We foundthe PaintedBunting common in scatteredstrips of wood- land betweenopen or partially overgrownfields, and along wooded, oftenvery deepgullies that led to Lake Texoma. Thinly woodedfringe along county roads was also favored by the buntings. There male after male on territory sang from telephonewires and tree perches closeto the road. Buntingswere lessnumerous in the larger groves and forestedareas where their numbersnoticeably decreased from the forest ecotoneto the denseinterior. They thrived in primarily agriculturalareas where some land was feral; in this respectrecently abandonedfarms providedoptimal conditions. This was not always so. Two pairsof buntingseven invaded the stationgrounds where large buildingsand extensivekept lawnswith exotic shrubscreated a pro- nouncedartificial environment. In all these habitats only the Mock- ingbird (Mimus polyglottos),Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius),Brown- headed (Molothrus ater), (Richmondenacardinalis), and Lark Sparrow(Chondestes g'rammacus) appeared to .beas common as the bunting. Nest territories invariably had severalthings in cmnmon,namely: (1) enoughvegetation, though it be but a singletree or small bush, to supportand concealthe nest; {2) severalsinging perches for the male; t3) a feeding ground, usually a grassy field with scattered shrubs(see Fig. 1). We determinedterritorial boundariesby plotting pointswhere skirmishesbetween males took place, and by employing dummymales which were attackedunhesitatingly by defendingmales on territory. One carefully studiedterritory was 75 by 180 yards, somewhatrectangular in shape. Severaloth½•r territories studied were about this size. They also appearedrectangular in shape,perhaps a resultof the artificial sectioningof the land by roads,groves, fields, etc. At no time weretrespassing males tolerated. Disputes.were common, and there was much chasingby males; but displaysclosely resembling courtshipdisplays also took place. Malesapproached within inchesof each other, and sometimesone of them assumeda peculiar,very stiff stance,thrusting his head up and back and his tail up and forward. Then he flutteredhis wings,at times violently; often he kept his bill wide open. Aboveground this posturewas maintained even vertically --with front end down. Holding fast to his perch, he leaned far forward,parrot-like, toward his adversary,followed by viciousattacks. At timestwo facedeach other with openbills, and suddenlythey Vol. XXX 1959 Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA spiraledstraight up from the ground for severalfeet, dealing blows the whole while. No cripplesresulted from the skirmisheswe wit- nessed;but there can be no doubt that real animosityexisted. Many timesthe dummywas struck hard by irate males. Havingfirst knocked the dummyfrom its perch,some males even followed it to the ground and attackedagain. One dummywas thus literally defeatheredand picked apart. The over-allshape of the species,the variouspostures it assumes whileperching, and its movementsin generalprobably evoke little or no response,other than t.o call attention,in maleson territory. The dummies.were flat, shapeless,simply cotton rilled skins. Regardlessof how placed, even upside down, they were attackedunhesitatingly. Moreover, the dummieswere motionless. Col,ors, more likely com- binationsof colors,probably elicited the responses,but we failed to isolatewhich colors were indispensable. The buntingsdid not attack cards.of a singlecolor or combinationsof .coloredcards, and for this reasonsome depth or shape,within limits, seemedimportant. Very noticeable.were the .brighteye-rings of the maleswhen they displayed beforeeither sex. At suchtimes these leathers a, ppeared elevated. We did not, however,experiment specifically with the eye-ring. The dum- mies were invariablyattacked by defendingmales, and usuallyre- peatedly. Sometimesthe dummieswent unseenby the males for

Fig. 1. Painted Bunting .habitat in southern Oklahoma. Adult buntings on territory commonlygather insectsfor their young in feral fields such as shown in this picture. PhotographedAugust 9, 1957, by Donald H. Baepler. 4] Petrmelee,PAINTED BUN'TING IN OKLAHOMA Bird-BandingJanuary

considerableperiods. This was especiallytrue, interestinglyenough, whenthe dummywas placedwithin a few feet of the nest. Only .oncedid we seea femaleattack an adult male, dummyor other- wise. This happenedwhen a dummywas placednear her nest with largeyoung. Bothshe and her matetogether repeatedly attacked the dummyabove and on the ground. Whenthe dummywas replaced with a subadultmale dummy,the male parent was much interested,ap- proachedit closelyfrom the side,above, and below,but did not fly at and strike it. The femalelikewise looked it over carefully,then sud- denlystiffened, fluttered her wings,and struckwith full fury. Only then did the male join the attack. We succededin trappingadult malesonly by baiting a live trap with otheradult males, either genuine or dummy. On the otherhand, we succeededin trappingfemales only by baiting with a fledgling. Our useof mist netswas not at all effectivein catchingbuntings of eithersex. Trappingactivities and field observations,use of bothlive and dummybirds, convinced us that trespassingmales were attacked by males,seldom by females,and that trespassing females were tolerated by both sexes,even in the nest-treeitself. Sincewe did not possess live subadultmales, we did not reach any satisfactoryconclusion con- cerning them. Onlyonce did we seea buntingchase another species of bird on or offterritory. In thiscase, a malestruck and drove off a DownyWood- pecker(Dendrocopos pubescens) that hadalighted near the bunting's nest.Only once did we see another species--a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchuscrinitus)--chase a bunting. The MourningDove (Zen- aiduramacroura), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), Scis- sor-tailedFlycatcher (Muscivora ltorficata), Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher(Toxostoma rultum), Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii), Orchard Oriole, Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak(Guiraca caerulea),Lark Sparrow, andField Sparrow (Spizella pusilia), often nested close to thebuntings. Indeed,many ,of these birds were tolerated in thenest-tree of buntings. Courtshipwas not practiced daily by thebuntings, and, consequently, we sawdisplays only infrequently. It occurredmainly, if not solely, duringpair formation(or attemptsat pair f.ormation), during the periodimmediately preceding egg-laying, and duringegg-laying. At thesetimes the males chasedfemales on and off territory. Several malesfrequently became involved in thesechases, causing overlap of courtshipand territorial defense. Courtship often took .place on the groundin fieldsand frequently al,ong roadsides or onthe road itself, andnot necessarilynear the nestwhen one was present. Theusual, perhaps essential, display of themale was one of hopping aboutin a circlingmanner close to thefemale. With bodyhelcl low onflexed legs, he stretchedhis neck, at timeslifted his head up and back,and invariably fluttered his wings. One male, observed in Tulsa County(,Norman, ibid.), circled a femalecounterclockwise, andwhile d,oingso, extended his right wing vertically high above his back, then, extendedboth wings horizontally. Continuing hopping, he againex- tendedvertically his right wing, and, finally, resumed a fluttering wing display.Another display not seen by us took place in MarshallCounty in 1952. Therea male flutteredin mid-air,"treading in absolutely Vol. XXX 10•9 Par•nelee,PAI'qTEI) BtXTIX(; IN OKLAHOMA •5

onespot," before a female(Sutton, ibid.). A mostremarkable display was seenby us, but only once. As a female flew low over a field, a malesuddenly darted in front of her, and,while flying forward, spread his tail, elevatedhis head,and manipulatedhis wings in sucha manner that theyappeared to be flutteringin flight. Very noticeablewere the brightcolors of the male'supperparts--kept in full viewof the female followingclose behind. This flight displaycovered nearly 30 yards! During the male'sdisplay, the femaleoften assumedno special attitude,oftentimes ign,oring the •naleby peckingat objectson the ground. When serious,she crouchedwith head tilted back and tail up and forward. This positioninvited copulation, the male mounting from above. Courtshipwas not alwaysfollowed by copulation,which appearednot to be an essentialpart of the courtshipdisplay. Accord- ing to our observations,copulation occurred just before and during egg-laying,and at no othertime; but this is problematical. One adult male displayedbefore a juvenile. This bird, high up on a telephonewire, suddenlystopped singing and stiflened, and stretching far forward, rapidly flutteredboth wings. Droppingdirectly to the groundbelow, he displayed--asin courtship--beforea juvenile that we believedto be his own. We neveragain saw an adultdisplay before a juvenile of any age. Forty-five,bunting nests were foundby us in 1957. Not all were occupiedwhen found, but all were nestsof the year. All were above ground,from 12 to 90 inchesup, the averageheight being 38.7 inches. Nestsfound late in the seasonwere often at higher elevationsthan those found earlier. The reason for this was obvious. Much of the concealingundercover dried and thinned as the seasonadvanced. Elevennests were in WingedElm(Uhnus data), sevenin OsageOrange (Maclura pomifera), four in Smilax (Smilax bona-nox),four in Post Oak (Quercusstellata), two in ChickasawPlum (Prunusangustifolia), two in Persimmon(Diospyros virginiana), two in French Mulberry (Callicarpaamericana), two in Buckbrush(Symphoricarpos orbicula- tus), one in Red Cedar (Juniperusvirginiana), one in SmoothSumac (Rhus glabra), one in Poison Ivv (Rhus toxicodendron), one in Russian Olive (Elaeagnusangustifolia), one in Spindle Wood (Euonymus japonica). Several nests were supportedby more than one plant: three in Smilax--Winged Elm, one in Smilax-- OsageOrange, one in French Mulberry--Chittam Wood (Bumelia lanuginosa),one in Ragweed(Ambrosia psilostachya)--Wild Lettuce (Lactuca). The nestswere closet.o the main axis of the plant, or out on ,branches,often at the very tip in a clusterof leavesthat sometimes dippedlow into a concealingunderstory of grassesand weeds. The nest-treesor -plantswere in bothdense and thin vegetativecover. One nestwas situated in a tiny, isolatedWinged Elm (18 incheshigh) out in an open,grassy field. Severalnests were closet.o a well-travelled gravelroad, the closestbeing only 11 feetfrom the edgeof the gravel. Many nestsof previousyears were found. All of thesenests were situatedlike those above, the dominantnest-plants being Smilax, WingedElm, and OsageOrange. In 1952, a nestwas found 20 feet up and far out on the limb 'of a WingedElm near the station(Sutton, ibid.). We consider such a site in that area. rare. 6] Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA Bird-BandingJanuary

Mostof the45 nestswere completed or nearlycompleted when found and'we did notobserve nest-building from start to finishat anyone nest. Onehad merely the bottomand 'part of a sidewhen found June 19 at 10.50a.m. By 4:15 p.m. the followingday, all sideswere built up andthe liningof the cupstarted. The liningwas finished June 21 andthe first egg laid June22. In onecase, the lining was completed after the laying,of the first egg. The femalealone constructed the nest,gathering material on and aboveground, close or far from the nest,on andoff territory. Many flyingfemales 'with nesting material eludedus completely. No maleswere ever seen with nesting material of anysort. Nest-constructionoften occurred shortly after sunrise and sunset.Nest-construction by double-brooded females attending young took, apparently,more time and continued,sporadically, throughout the day. Egg-layingto,ok place shortly after sunrisewhen the femalereturned fromroosting. The timeof layingwas determined for 21 eggs(eight nests). All of theseeggs were laid between5:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. We did not recordegg-laying at a laterhour, and there is nothingin our datato indicatethat it everoccurred much later in the day. The actuallaying of an eggwas noted at tworather exposed nests. In each of four occasions,the bird in the nestsuddenly raised or elevatedher bodyfrom a lowto a veryhigh. setting position, spread her taN,puffed out her feathers,and whileelevated, occasionally turned ab,out. This lastedfrom one to sevenminutes. Upon laying the egg,tl•e bird again settledlow in the nest,and on two occasionsfell fast asleep. Onebird, havingjust laid an egg,stood on the rim of the nestand peered down at the eggsher, ore settling. Freshlylaid eggswere stickyand difficult to mark. When nest flushed,the femalemade no alarm cry. She simply slippedoff the nest,usually obliquely to one'sapproach. Then she returneda momentlater and chirped. We failed to note or identify injury-feigningby either sex. Predationand cowbirdparasitism made it impossibleto determine accuratelythe clutch-sizein mostbunting nests. The clutch-sizeat 16 nestswas three (nine nests) and four (seven nests). Both clutch-s4zes occurredearly and late in the season. The female attendedthe eggs. During incubationthe male only sporadicallyvisited the nest-tree.But that he did so occasionallythere is no doubt, for we trappedmales within two feet of the nest. Some- timesthe trap went unsprungfor severaldays, indicatingthat males did not regularlygo nearthe nest. Not oncedid we seeone alig'ht at a nest; nor did we ever see one sing from the nest-tree. Ten to 75 yardsout from there they usuallysang from favoriteperches. Often they disappearedfrom the territory altogetherbut neverfor very long. They fed both on and off terril:ory. During daylight hours females left the nest sometimes for more than a half hour to feed on or off territory. Thesefemales fed mostoften in mid-morningand late after- noon and during eveningher, ore sundown,but there was no precise feedingschedule, even for individualsof both sex,so far as we could tell. During darknessfemales remained on the nest and were not overly disturbedby flashlightand somewere reluctantto flush when Vol.1959XXX P•trme]ee,PAINTEl) BUXTINC INOKLAHOMA [7 touched. Onceflushed they soonreturned to the nesteven on moonless nights. Where the malesroosted throughout incubation and fledging remainsa moot question. The periodof incubation,i.e., the time intervalfrom laying t.ohatch- ing of the last egg of the clutch,was 11 daysand six hoursat eachof three nestsunder scrutiny. At a fourth nest, it fell somewherebetween 11 days, 6 hours and 11 days, 9 hours. The period of hatching,i.e., the time interval betweenhatching of the first and last eggs,varied significantly. This was expectedsince incubation started before .or after completionof the clutch. The hatchingperiod of one three-egg clutchwas at mostonly 4.5 hours,that of anotherthree-egg clutch was at least23 hours,and that of one four-eggclutch was at least40 hours. Commonly,incubation began with the laying of the next to last egg of the clutch,the spreadof hatchingbeing about one day. Chickspipped their shellson the 10th day. A hole slightlylarger than a millimeter in diameterusually appeared in the side of the shell within a few hours .of hatching. The shell was not cut even half way around. It merelybroke in two and the chickemerged rapidly. The female then carried the half-shellsand droppedthem on the ground sometimesas closeas fifty feet away. Newly hatchedchicks weighedabout two grams. They gained about one gram per day on the averageuntil 10 to 11 gramswere at- tainedby fledging. Upon hatchingthey werenaked and only scantily coveredwith light down; their eyesdid not open wide until the third day. Developmentof the remigesproceeded rapidly, but the chicks remainedmostly naked into the seventhday. Then the body feathers burst from their sheaths. Althoughan eight-day-oldchick was capable of flying, it was not well leathereduntil the ninth day. Even then there were conspicuous"naked" areas. The femaleattended the nestlings--theyoung in the nest. As during incubation,the male parent only sporadicallyvisited the nest-tree. Not oncedid we seea malecarry foodto nestlings.The femalegathered food both on and off territory, using no specialentrances or exits at the nest-tree. Flights to and from the nest were rather conspicuous. Fecal sacswere droppedat various distancesfrom the nest. When obviouslydisturbed by ,ourpresence the femaleslingered and chirped with food in bill not far from the nest. They went to the nest sooner whenthe male sangnear by, for the songwas an apparentreleaser in this respect. Most femalesbecame accustomed to us within a short time, and someeven fed nestlingswhile we sat fully exposedten feet away. C.onditioningof this sorthad to be constantlyreinforced. Food for the nestlings,so far as we determined,consisted entirely of --including caterpillars,, and smallbeetles. Femalesfrequently brooded between feedings, especially when the nestlingswere small. They also,brooded at night. One broodedthree youngconstantly for eight nightsand then abandonedthem on the ninth•on the eve of fledging. Having roostedfar from the nest-tree, she returnedin dim light the followingmorning (5:25 a.m.) from across a wide cultivated field. Then she brooded for 11 minutes before fetching food. 8] Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA Bird-BandingJanuary

Fledgingoccurred on the 8th or 9th day. The oldestchicks remained in thenest for ninedays; but the youngest chick, often younger by a day, usuallyfledged about the sametime as its oldersiblings. One eight-day-oldchick actually left the nest several hours ahead of a nine-day-oldsib, at a timewhen we wereaway. When'put back in the nestit remainedanother 24 hoursbut wouldnot stayput after that. This was the only casewhere an eight-day-oldchick remainedin the nestafter it had,fledged. All othereight- and nine-day-oldchicks would n'otstay put. Sincethe eight-day-oldchick flew fairly well, we con- sideredit fledgedwhen it left the nest. PaintedBuntings about to fledgedid not suddenlybolt from the nest. Crowded,they nudgedtheir way toward the femaleparent whenever shebrought food. The driveto approachthe parentwas very strong evenin nestlings,and this drive increased until, by fledgingtime, they climbed on one another, on the rim of the nest, and •ften on the supportinglimb close by, settling back in the nest once the female left. When they left the nest finally, they graduallymoved into the surroundingfoliage. Some tumbled straight down to the ground. There they were fed by the femalewho readily locatedthem by their }oud food-chirps. At first these fledglings,half walking, half fluttering, made their waylaboriously through the groundvegetation, and in doingso became dispersed.Within a few hoursthey workedtheir way back to the upperfoliage wherethey remainedmostly still, callingwhen hungry, and occasionallyflying from branchto ,branchor bushto bush. One nine-day-oldchick that had remainedon the ground for three hours after falling from the nest suddenlyflew straightup and alightedon a limb six feet abovethe ground;another made its way up by successive shortflights. Althoughfledglings occasionally flew down to the ground, we never saw one accidentallyfall after it had once fallen from the nest. Consideringtheir age,they were incrediblyagile and strongof wing. Three fledglings,each nine days,old and out of the nest less than two hours,flew 50 feet before alighting in upper foliage. When approachedmost nine-day-oldchicks (Fig. 2) and someten-day-old chicksremained still on a perchand wereeasily caught by hand. We failed to catch older chicks. Certain pairs continuedto nest after they had a successfulfledging and were--in a true senseof the term--double-brooded.In full .charge •f the brood,the femalealone constructed a new nestnear her old one. The maledramatically took over the broodjust beforeegg-laying, and thereafterthe femalehad nothing to do with the,brood, so far asknown. One female (57-81508) built her new nest 14.5 feet from the old one. Alreadylarge and substantialwhen discoveredfour days after her y•ung hadleft the old nest,construction must have started soon .after the fledging,.perhaps before. Buildingcontinued between feedings of the young,all of whichremained close by within the territory of the male. In a singlebreath she fed a chick, reachedout and pulled nestingmaterial from a branchnear by, placedthe materialin her nest severalfeet away, and then flew off to gather more food. At times ..•onstructionlagged, sometimes it was hurried al,ong,but there was no regularbuilding period. 'Nowthe malecourted. Sevendays after VoL1959XXX Parmelee,PAiNTEr BUNTiNg INOKLAHOMA [9 the fledgingand on the very eve of egg-layinghe took chargeof the brood. Betweenfeedings he chasedthe female about the open fields on territory. Twicewe sawhim followher into Ugh grasswhere copu- lationprobably took place. An eggwas laid on eachof threefollowing d'ays. The broodoften visited the nest-treeand sometimesflew close to the incubatingparent; but therewas no visiblesign of recognition or show of excitement between them. This bunting'snest was wholly different from her old one. The old .nest,small and compact, was 22 inchesabove the ground and attache! to verticalstalks of Giant Ragweedand Wild Lettuce. The new .one, largeand bulky,-,•as saddled 82 inchesup on 'a 'h,orizontal limb of a largePersimmon. Bunting 57-81502 built a nest15 inchesabove the groundin a smilaxtangle; after the youngfledged she built another 27 inchesup in an OsageOrange, 32.5 feet away. Bunting57-81507 builther nest 19 inchesup in Smilax;after the fledging she built another 41 feeta-,•ay in Smilax88 inchesabove the ground. Bunting 57-81526 had a nest54 inchesup in a fairly large WingedElm; after the fledgingshe built another73 feetaway and 44 inchesu.p in a stunted WingedElm overshadowedby Persimmon.These findings made dear that individualsdo not necessarilyselect a similarnest-site each time, and that theydo not necessarilyattach and fashioneach nest in the same manner. Femalebunting 57-81502 produced one bunting fledgling and one cowbirdfledgling on June24, i.e., the youngfledged on that date.

: . ß

• • •. •:ß ..• .. y % • , •.ß•. - .•.•

.

. .

•- .•.•...; : . :.•.;• •-•: •. ß •;• .• .

Fig.2. Nine-day-oldPainted Bunting photographed shortly after leavingthe nest. A buntingof thisage flies strongly. Note bands on legs. Froma koda- chrometaken July 29, 1957,by DavidF. Parmdee. lO] Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA ttird-ttandirtg January

This double-broodedfemale produced three more bunting fledglings on July 23--only 29 daysafter the first broodfledged. Bunting 57-81507 producedthree buntingfledglings on June 26; on July 25 she pro- ducedone buntingfledgling and tw,o cow,bird,fledglings- again 29 days betweenfledgings. Bunting 57-81508 produced three bunting fledglingson June30; on July 29 sheproduced three more--again 29 days betweenfledgings. Bunting 57-81526 produced one bunting fledgling(one cowbird died prematurely)on July 18; on August17-18 sheproduced three bunting fledglings--approximately 30 daysbetween fledgings. Thus the time interval betweenfledgings was not only surprisinglyshort but remarkablyconstant. We suspected,other pairs of double-broodedness,but we failed to band and thus establishtheir identity beyondquestion. Spruntand Chamberlain (1949:515) state that in SouthCarolina the PaintedBunting "raises three broods, sometimes possibly four." Ap- parentlythis statementon triple-broodednesswas based on datesfor succeeding'broods (June 11 and July 15), and on a late broodnoted September16. We neversaw a ,broodbeing fed by both parentsat the sametime. Theywere often seen together with the brood, but onlyone fed. This alsohappened when a pair and their chickwere caged together. The femaleimmediately took chargeand fed the chick until it caredfor itself. The male fed it but twice. Not only did he eat unhesitatingly whilefacing the begging chick, he evensnatched food from its mouth. The female,on the other hand, invariablysnatched insects from the maleand gave them to thechick. So intentwas she in her feedings, that shereadily took insectsfrom our fingers. The male under n,ormal circumstancesfed young only when the femalewas involved in anothernesting. Although we do not consider the matterfinal, thereis nothingin our data to the contrary. The comingsand goings of the brightmales attending young were easily followed.Flights to andfrom the broodwere mostly direct, and the favoredhunting grounds were the open or semi-openfields on territory. Flyinglow overthe fieldthe malesuddenly plunged into the grasses, thetops of whichswayed as he madehis way through the understory searchingfor insects.Flying out of thegrasses, he oftenwent to some treelimb to kill his prey. Thenhe flewback to the brood. Feedings wereintense or casual. For the mostpart he kept the broodwithin histerritory. Hard pressed as he often was during this period, he still sangfrom his perchesand chased trespassing males. Femalebuntings not involvedin anothernesting attended young untilparent-'offspring relations broke down. A femalethus employed did not alwayskeep the brood'within the territory of the mate. Some evenmoved into adjacentterritories and weretolerated. Movements of the femaleswere more difficult to follow. Their flights to and from the brood were fairly direct, but the favoredfeeding places were less restricted. The fledgling,like the nestling,was strongly attracted to the parent (of eithersex) arrivingwith fo,od. When the parent alighted near by, on or abovethe ground,the fledglingoften flew directlyto it and beggedclamorously. With outstretchedneck it flutteredits wingsso Vol. XXX •9•9 Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA [ll

violentlythat it was conspicu,ous.Often the entirebrood approached and beggedtogether. As the younggrew older they flew greaterdis- tancesto the parent. This irresistabledrive or compulsionto go to a parentfor food mustbe part of the mechanismthat keepsthe bro,od within a given area. The characteristicposture of the juvenilewas one of begging,even whenthe adultwas away. It keptits wingslow, relaxed, almost droopy. In thisit wasstrikingly unlike the adultwith wingsset high, tucked in. This peculiarjuvenile posture was still pronouncedin a 30-day-old captive chick. An eight-day-'oldchick taken from the nest quickly respondedto our approachand beggedfood from us. When placedwith its captive parentstwo dayslater it beggedequally often from bothof them,even when they had no food. Parental sex made no difference. It is not surprisingthen that a broodsuddenly accepts the male in casesof double-broodedness. One buntingfledgling was placedwith anotherbrood of buntings thathad just fledged about a mile away. The fosterparent (female) raised it with her own brood of three. The food-call.of the juvenilewas a loud, oftenpersistent, single or doublechir.p, distinct from alarmnotes of adults. We did not under- standthe significanceof the singleor doublenote. It appearednot to be a matter of age 'but of individualvariation. A seriesof notes n,otrecorded by us in the field was given repeatedlyby the captive femaleattending her chick. Thesenotes--usually chew-chew-chew- cheeeoft repeated,sometimes chew-cheee-chew-cheee-chew-cheee oft repeated--wereinvariably given when this bird, with foodin bill, tried to inducethe chick to eat. At suchtimes the chick, alreadystuffed with food,ignored her. Theseinducing notes were not clearlyaudible beyondfive or six feet. Theymay havebeen similar to onesgiven by femalesattending small nestlings, but we neverheard those notes clearly, and 'we did not understandthem. Grasshoppersof variouskinds were readily acceptedby the captive pair, but they had to .beof a certainsize, i.e., not too large. The larger onestaken werethoroughly crushed. Wings, legs, often the head,were nipped off and discardedor eaten. The thorax and abdomenwere maceratedbut left in ,onepiece. This was carefullythrust far back in the throat of the chickby the female. When not swallowedimmediately, she took it away and then quickly repeatedthe performance.Food was retrievedwhen accidentallydropped by adult or chick. One non- captive female retrieved an that had dropped nearly 15 feet to the ground. Small insectswere invariably killed but usually not picked apart. ,damselflies, and walking sticks were readily takenby the captivebirds, but dragonflies,true bugs,butterflies, and moths were n,ot. Young of two differentbroods, respectively 26 and 29 days old, capturedand ate insectson their own. Young 32 days old ate grass seedson their own. All of theseyoung were still underparental care. Other field observationsindicated that even younger juvenileswere capable,of feeding without parental help, and for this reason the feedingsof the captivejuvenile were closely watched. When 20 days 12] Parmelee,PAINTED •BuNTINC. INOKLAHOMA Bird-Banding January old the juvenilechased and attemptedto kill andswallow grasshoppers, but it was not successfulin this until the 23rd day. When26 daysold it cracked seeds•or the first time--as expeditiouslyas the adults. Very noticeablyit beggedless often at 29 days,and the adult fed it but onceduring the followingthree days. When33 daysold it refused grasskoppersand fed thereafterexclusively on seedsand other vegeta- tion. Non-captivebirds, 38 days old and not under parental care, caughtand ate insects,but this was not observedin older juveniles. The captivejuvenile drank water frequently after 27 daysold, but we do not knowwhen it took its first drink. Juveniles32 daysold, and older,often visited pools in the gully b,ottoms.There they splashed, thoroughlywetting the plumage.Then they perched high and preened in direct sunlight. One broodwas observedeach day from fleclginguntil the parent- offspringrelationship broke down. All threeyoung were nine clays old whenfledged. At first they remainedwith the female (double- bro.oded),but when16 daysold theybecame the chargeof the male. The,brood was remarkably compact, i.e., the young stayed together and did not scatterfor any greatlength of time. As theydeveloped they becameless sedentary and followed the male about on territory,often one behindthe other. They were seen,off territory, briefly, when 30 daysold, and thereafter were seen off territorymore frequently and for longerperiods. All threewere last seentogether when 32 days old. Tworemained and still begged and received food from the male when34 daysold; but therelationship was dissolved a day later. The maleparent m,ostly remained near the nest-tree of its matewhich was thenattending nestlings. By the 39th day only oneof the original broodwas seen. On the41st day onewas collected--only 83 feetfrom the nest in which it had hatched. In the meantime the new brood fledged. The femaleand broodleft the territory which,until then, had beendefended vigorously by the male. Thenhe, to,o,abandoned the area and followed. When last seen,four daysafter the fledging, all weretogether, off territory,some 300 yardsfrom the originalnest- site. Just what initiated the breakdown,between parent and offspringis not known. The break wasnot sudden. Young.of the year flocked together,and this flockingor mixingof broods(some of whichwere banded)occurred even while part of the flockwas still beingfed by an adult. Thusit appearedto be a gradualbreakdown, and evenafter it wasfinal, the young ,occasionally returned, sometimes with otheryoung, to the original territory. Polygamyexisted among the buntings,but just how widespreadit wasthroughout the population is uncertain.Males on territory appeared to havea singlemate. This couldhave been an erroneousassumption .of ours,for oncea nestwas found further searchin the sameterritory wasmostly discontinued. Quite by accidentwe foundtwo activenests (nos.15 and16) only45.5 feet apart in an areaoccupied by a single male. The femaleswith their broodswere captured and marked,but themale was not captured until it wasattending the brood of nest15- at a time when the female from that nest was involved in another nest- ing. Thefemale of nest16 was not d,ouble-brooded. Shetook her brood Vol. XXX 1959 Parmelee,PAINTED BtN'TING IN OKLAHOMA [13 acrossa well-travelledroad into an adjacentterritory and raisedthem there. The male of that territory--capturedand identifiedwith still another female and nest--courted her for a week but in vain. Occasion- ally the femaleand broodbriefly visited the originalterritory. Indeed, they and the brood,of nest15 were seentogether in a nest-treethen occupiedby the female from old nest 15. We did not discoverwhich male latheredthe broodof nest16. The only timeswe saw a male with the femalenear that nest was on the day before and when the brood fledged. No maleswere marked then. In any event,here was a situationin whichthere were three employed females in two territories eachdefended .by a male. The roostinghabits of the buntingsbaffled us. Althoughsome 50 hourswere spent searching for themat nightin well-knownterritories, we neverdid find adult malesor fledgedyoung older than 12 daysat roost,and only oncedid we find an adult femaleat roostaside from nesting.At duskon July 30, a pair flushedfrom a smallclump of mixed trees. A momentlater the female (bandedby us previously) returnedalone to the identicalspot, fluttered from perchto perch,and in a little openingfinally alighted on a slenderoak branchfour feet abovethe ground.There she preened in neardarkness before settling down. Sheremained on thesame perch throughout the night, but her mateand 20-day-old young we did not find. The abandonednest of thesebirds wasabout 125 yardsaway. We neverfound any of them roostingin or near the oak again. Attemptsto followmales to roostat duskfailed time andagain. They simplyescaped us. Oneflew a hundredyards from its territoryin dim light and droppeddown in a cornfield. Whetherit remainedthere throughoutthe night is questionable.For all weknew the buntings may haveregularly roosted off territory. In 1957 flood waters of Lake Tex.omainundated much land about the stationand temporarily destroyed habitats otherwise occupied by bunt- ingsand other . Many animals then concentrated in number on highland adjacentto the floodedareas. This probablywas why the buntingsamong others appeared more abundant than usual near the staff.on. Very conspicuousat that time werea varietyof bird-eating --thechief predators of buntingnests that year. Beforethe floodwaters subsided very much these predators, especially the Coach- whip(Masticophis fiagellum), .were seen surprisingly often, every day. Alarmcries and franticflutterings of adultbuntings of bothsex in- variablyled us to one .of them. At one buntingnest, a Common Kingsnake(Larnpropeltis getulus) had alreadygrasped a fledgling beforewe intervened.At another,we finallyshot a Racer(Coluber constrictor)that repeatedlytried to reachthe nestlingsthat were aboutto fledge.The nestlingswere then placed in a cagewhere the parentcould feed them, but a Rat (Elaphe obsoleta) entered through a narrow crack and ate them. Whenthe watersreceded many animals reclaimed the lake shore habitat. Althoughmostly dead trees and practicallyno undercover exceptwithered smilax tangles remained, some buntings nested there, indicatingestablishment of late territories. One nest was on a branch belowthe high water mark of a WingedEhn. Fewerand fewer snakes ]•] Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTtNG IN OKLAHOMA Bir(1-BandingJanuary were seen as the season advanced. Predation of birds in general fell off after mid-July. Avian and mammalianpredators of birdswere scarce, and we found little evidenceof their destroyingbuntings or their nests. Two nests containedbunting eggs that were crushed.Tiny ants (classification uncertain)destroyed one, possibly two, neststhat we knewof. One we had watchedcritically since egg-laying. The antsmoved up and down the nest-treeand crawledover the nest during incubation;but they did not causethe buntingto desert. Duringhatching the antskilled the 'firstchick and alsothe secondwhich had merelypipped its shell. This resulted in nest desertion. Another nest overrun with anls apparentlywas deserted before egg-laying. Ants alsokilled a young cowbirdthat left a ,bunting'snest prematurely;but its nest-mate,a bunting,survived by stayingin the nestuntil able to fly. Many cowbirdswere shot near the stationbefore and during the investigation. In spite of this, at least 13 of the buntingnests found wereparasitised by them. All but four ,of thesewere desertedduring egg-laying. We do not know why the buntingsdeserted one time and not the next, but our observationssupport a point of view that nest desertionby the speciesoccurs when the nest is parasitisedearly in egg-laying,before the third or fourth h,ost egg has beenlaid. If para- sitisedlater, the buntingdoes not desert,even if the cowbirdthen destroyssome of the host eggs. No more than two c'owbirdeggs or youngwere found in a buntingnest. No cowbirdeggs were found buriedin buntingnests. One cowbirdegg was found brokenon the grounddirectly beneath a nest that had three buntings.only. Latest dateof a freshcowbird egg in a buntingnest: July 3; latestdate of a cowbirdyoung in a buntingnest: July 25. In a nest containing one buntingand one cowbird,the buntingfledged first. In one with two buntingsand a cowbird,a buntingand the cowbirdfledged (to- gether) first. The femalebunting fed cowbirdjuveniles out 'of the nest, but we were uncertain if the males ever did. An importantfactor in breedingsuccess of the speciesis nestdura- bility. Smallyoung at two nestsfell to the groundwhen the nests tippedlow on one side. Anothernest fell all the way to the ground. To keepthese young alive we stitchedthe nestsfirmly to their supports by needleand thread. One nestsimply disintegrated in a light rain, spillingthree small young nearly seven feet to theground. Rain occurred but onceduring our stay; but persistentinclement weather during nestingwould certainly ruin many activebunting nests in southern Oklahoma. Severalnests found were not well shadedfrom the sun. All embryos in four eggs at one nest apparentlydied from overheating. One buntinglined her nestwith horsehair and frequentlybecame entangled in it. When two of the three eggs were thrown out of the nest by suchentanglements, we removedthe lining. The third egg survived. Lossof eggsresulting from predativnand cowbirdparasitism made it impossibleto determinethe total numberof eggslaid in all 45 nests, and it is not feasibleto statebreeding success as percentagesof young fledgedto the totalnumber of eggslaid, or young.fledged to the number of eggslaid in the nestswhich did produceyoung. This much we ¾o•.1959xxx Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING INOKLAHOMA [15 know: One of the 45 nestscontained feather sheaths only, indicating successfulfledging of an unknownnumber of young. Of the other 44 nests,only 19 producedyoung--48 in all. At least53 eggshad beenlaid in the 19 nests.but this figureis too low. Thirty-sevenyoung (from 15 of 19 nestswith young) fledged. The remarkablefact is that 19 of the 37 fledglingswere producedby only four double-brooded females. Three of the double-broodedfemales were parasitised by cowbirdswhich reducedthe bunting clutch-size.The double-brooded femaleunmolested by cowbirdsproduced at leastsix fledglings(from seveneggs) in 1957. Generally,it maybe said that the nest of thePainted Bunting is highly vulnerableto destruction. Yet, it is obviousthat the speciesis very successfulin southernOklahoma where it is so abundant. The species enduresand overcomeshigh mortality of nestsby virtue of its high breedingpotential. Thereis little doubtin our mindsthat a few femalesfavorably situated can produceenough young to maintainthe populationwhen the majority fails. Bumpercrops can be expected when breedingconditi.ons approach the ideal. Conceivably,some buntingsmay be triple-brooded,but we haveno evidencethat this is ever the case. Why somefemales were "favorably situated" or just what consti- tutes a favorable situation is uncertain. The double-brooded females did not choosea particularkind of siteeach time; n,ordid their choice of sitesdiffer, seemingly, from those of lesssuccessful females. A variety of nest types and nest locationsproduced young. However,nests placedin an uprightcrotch endured wear and the elementsbest; those saddled on a limb 'or situated in vines or in a loose cluster of leaves at the end of a branch were less durable. Well-shadedeggs or young had obviousadvantages. parasitised a varietyof nesttypes and locations. With respectto predation,the site of the territory seemedimportant. Certainpredators were noted time and againin s.ometerritories, much lessoften in others. Why somefemales were double-brooded and othersnot, is also uncertain.Age may be a factor,but thereis no evidenceof this for the species.The polygamousmale bunting and his abilityto care for a givennumber of youngat ,oneti•ne may well be an important factorwhy somefemales do not proceedwith anothernesting, even when there is sufficienttime. We do not know if female buntingsever mate with more than one male during one season. Seemingly,the wholequestion of p.olygamyhas to be betterunderstood before we fully understanddouble-broodedness in this species. Not all buntingshad stoppednesting by the ti•ne we departed. Therewere at leasttwo active nests, one with eggs and one with 5-day-old young.Observations at these nests were continued •by W. M. Pulich wholater wrote that the eggs at the.one nest hatched during August 9-10, andthat the young of thatnest fledged sometime during August 17-18. We knowof no later buntingnesting for Oklahoma. Adult buntingsdid not undergoextensive postnuptial molt up to thetime of ,ourdeparture. It seemsunlikely that they ever do before migratingfrom Oklahoma. Males continued to singinto August, but frequencyof songfell off aftermid-July. We recordedthe last full 16] Parmelee,PAINTED BkT_¾r•N½ •N OKLAHOMA lgird-lgandirtgJanuary

songAugust 6. Apparentlythere are no late Augustor September recordsof adultmales for the state,the latestone beingour own (August9, MarshallCounty). Latestrecorded date for an adult female: August 18, Marshall County (Pulich, in litt.). Flocksof juvenileswere common by earlyAugust, and apparently they remainfairly commonlocally in the stateinto September(at least one specimenavailable). Octoberdates for "female-like"Painted Buntingshave been noted for Woods'County in northernOklahoma (Sutton, ibid.). A numberof bandedjuveniles of knownage were collected by us in 1957. Theseinclude 9-, 15-, 19-,21-, 25-, 31-, 35-, and41-day-old birds. All of themwere collected near their nests--goodevidence that juvenilesof theseages are not rangy. Thesespecimens, including adults,will 'bereported ,on in a separatepaper dealing principally with plumagesand molts of the species. The (Passerinn cyanea) was both scarceand local, andwe foundno situationwhere it andciris bred side by side,although c.onceivably they do just that in partsof MarshallCounty. When comparedwith thiswork previous studies on the IndigoBunting (For- bush, 1929:118-121;Allen, 1933:227-235;Bradley, 1948:103-113) indicatethat thereare significantdifferences in the breedingbehavior of the two species.Ideas differ on the role of male cyaneaat the nest and in care of young. Accordingto Bradleyonly the femaleincubates and "All parental care while the young Indigo Buntingsare in the nest is given by the female"; but accordingto Forbushboth sexes incubateand attend nestlings.Allen statesthat althoughthe male Indigo Buntingdoes not brood,b,oth sexes attend nestlings and further substantiatesthis belief with a photographof a male feedingyoung at a nest. Accordingto Allen bothparents attend fledged young until the young feed themselves.He further statesthat cyaneais double- brooded,but that the intervalbetween the start of the first nest (e.g., early June) and that of the secondnest (e.g., late July or early August) is long. This certainlyis not the casewith ciris. The 12-dayincubation periodof cyaneaby Forbushand Allen is nearly a day longerthan that of ciris. Bradleystates that eight- and nine-day-oldcyanea fledge asvery weak flyers and that theythen remain on or closeto the ground. Accordingto Forbush and Allen, young cyanearemain in the nest 10 to 13 days. Eight-day-oldciris fledglingsfly and the nine-day-old ones are strong of wing and mostly remain fairly high above the groundsoon after fledging.

SUMMARY 1. The breeding behavior of the Painted Bunting (Passerinn ciris) was studied near the north shore of Lake Texoma in Marshall County, Oklahoma, from June 15 to August 9, 1957. Particular attention was given the fully adult birds with respect to the role played by each sex at the nest and in care of young. 2. Previous records indicate that the species arrives at Marshall County as early as mid-April, but not in force until late April or early May. The arrival of adult females is poorly known. 3. Egg-laying in Marshall County probably commencesas early as mid-May. In 1957, nesting was well under way by mid-June, but early phases of the breeding cycle were repeated even into July. Vol.1959XXX Parmelee,PAINTED BUNTING IN OKLAHOMA [17

4. The specieswas among the commonestof the passerincbirds. It was most numerousin the thinly wooded places, in primarily agricultural areas where some land was feral. 5. Throughout nesting, the nest territories were vigorously defended by males againstother malesof the species. Trespassingfemales with or without broodswere toleratedby both sexeson territory. Defensivedisplays resem- bling courtshipdisplays occurred among males. 6. Ground displaysand flight displaysby courting males occurred during pair formation, during the period preceding egg-laying, and during egg-laying. One adult male displayedas in courtshipbefore a juvenile. 7. All 45 nests found in 1957 were placed 12 to 90 inches (averake 38.7 inches) above the ground in a variety of plants. The nest-treesor -plants were in both dense and thin vegetative cover. 8. The female alone constructedthe nest. Nest-constructionrequired as little as two days. Lining the nest was completedbefore or after laying of the first egg. 9. Egg-laying occurred shortly after sunrise when the female returned from roosting. 10. The clutch-size at 16 nests was three and four. Both clutch-sizes occurred early and late in the season. 11. The female alone incubated and left the nest to feed. The male only sporadically visited the nest-tree and rarely approachedthe nest. Males sangnear but not in the nest-tree. Each male had severalsinging perches on territory. 12. Incubation started before or after completionof the clutch. Commonly,it began with the laying of the next to the last egg. The period of incubation in three known caseswas exactly 11 days,six hours. The period of hatching varied from 4.5 hours to at least 40 hours. 13. The female alone attended the nestlings. She broodedbetween feedings and at night. 14. Fledging occurredon the 8th or 9th day. Eight-day-oldyoung flew fairly strongly, nine-day-old young very strongly. 15. Some Painted Buntingswere double-brooded.In full charge of the brood the female alone constructed a new nest near her old one. The new nest was not necessarilysituated or fashioned like the old one. In one known case,egg-laying took place eight days after the young fledged. 16. The time interval between fledgings in four cases of double-broodedness was 29-30 days. 17. With respect to double-broodedness,the male rook over the brood just before egg-laying. He then cared for the brooduntil parent-offspringrela- tions dissolved. W'hen not double-brooded,the female cared for the brood until parent-offspringrelations dissolved. 18. The brood remained together and did not range far from the original nest-site. 19. A captive23-day-old juvenile caughtand ate insects. W.hen26 days old it crackedand ate seeds. It refusedto take food from the parent when 33 days old. Non-captive juveniles, 26 .days old, caught insects while still attended by the parent. Adults fed young until parent-offspringrelations dissolved, 20. Juveniles of different broods flocked even while some individuals of the flock were still attended by adults. 21. Parent-offspringrelations dissolvedgradually. It ceased altogether when the young were 33-35 days old. Unattended juveniles often returned to the original territory. 22. Polygamyexisted among the buntings. 23. Flood waters forced the Painted Bunting among other animals to concentrate in certain areas. When the waters receded the buntings among othea,s reclaimed the shore habitat. 24. Bird-eating snakes were principal predatorsof the speciesduring nesting. The species was commonly parasitised by cowbirds. 25. The nest of the specieswas highly vulnerableto predation. Nest durability was important in nest success. 26. Nineteen of 44 nests produced48 young. Nineteen of the 37 young that ]8] Bergerand Mueller, THE BAL-CHATRI Bird-BandingJanuary

fledged were produced by four double-broodedfemales. One double-brooded fe,nale produced at least six fledglings in 1957. 27. The speciesendures and overcomeshigh mortality of nests by virtue of its high breeding potential. 28. Adult ,nales sang full songsas late as August 6. Adults did not un,dergo postnuptial molt during nesting. 29. Fledging occurred as late as August 17-18. 30. Adults apparently migrate south fro,n Oklahoma before molting. There are no September or later records of adults for the state. Juveniles have been recorded in September, female-like birds in OctobeT. 31. Differences exist in the breeding behavior of the Indigo and Painted Buntings. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This studywas financedlargely by a grant-in-aidfrom the 'National ScienceFoundation. Dr. Carl D. Riggs,Director of the Universityof Oklah,omaBiological Station, provided transportationand both field and laboratoryequipment, and helpedme in everyother possible way. Mr. W. M. Pulichof the Universityof Dallas,Irving, Texas,aided me in field observations.I am especiallygrateful to Dr. GeorgeM. Sutton and Mr. Donald H. Baeplerof the University of OklahomaZool,ogy Departmentfor invaluablehelp afieldand in the readingof the manu- script. BIBLIOGRAPHY ALLEN,A.A. 1933. The Indigo Bunting. Bird-Lore, 35: 227-23•. BAUMGARTNER,F. M. and HOWELL,J. C. 1947. The numerical and seasonal statusesof the birds of Payne County,Oklaho,na. Proceedingso! the Okla- homa Academy o! Science, 27: 45-59. BRABLEY,H. L. 1948. A life history study of the Indigo Bunting. Jack-Pine Warbler, 26: 103-113. COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. 1957. Check-List of North American birds. Fifth Edition. The Lord Balti,nore Press, Inc., Bal- timore, Maryland. Pages 1-691. FORBUSH,E. H. 1929. Birds of Massachusettsand other New England States. Volume 3. M,assachusettsDepartment of Agriculture. Pages 1-466. NICE, M. M. 1931. The birds of Oklaho,na. University of Oklaho,na Press, Norman, Oklaho,na. Pages 1-224. NORMAN,J. L. Unpublished notes at 2617 Elgin, Muskogee, Oklaho,na. SPRUNT,ALEXANDER, Jt•., and CHAMBERLAIN,E. BURNHAM. 1949. Sou[h Caro- lina Bird Life. University of Press,Colmnbia, S.C. Pages 1-585. SUTTON,g. M. Unpublished notes at Department of Zoology, University of Oklaho,na, Nor,nan, Oklaho,na. Biology Department,Kansas State TeachersCollege, Emporia, Kansas.

THE BAL-CHATRI: A TRAP FOR THE BIRDS OF PREY By DANIELD. BERGERAND HELMUT C. MUELLER In spite of the abundanceand variety of traps left to us by many generationsof falconers,the raptors remain amongthe most dii•icult birdst,o trap. The devicepresented below is the bestall-purpose trap we have encounteredin nearly a decadeof experimentingwith the various techniquesfor capturinghawks. It hasthe advantagesof beingsmall, havingno moving.parts, and canbe throwninto the vicinityof a hawk from a movingvehicle. As with mosttrapping techniques, the device is an adaptationof an ancientidea. For many yearsthe eastIndian falconers have taken hawks in h,orsehair nooses ai•ixed to the exterior