144 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



GENUS DOLICHONYX. Swainson. 



Bill thick, conical, very robust and acute : upper mandible with the dorsal line straight. 

 Nostrils small, operculate. Wings broad, pointed ; the first quill longest. Tail moderate, 

 with the feathers narrow and acuminated at the tips. 



THE BOBLINK. 



DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS. 

 PLATE XXII. FIG. 48 (Male). 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Embcriza oryzivora, Linnjeus, 12 ed. p. 311. 



Rice Bunting. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 3G0. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 48, pi. 12, figs. 1 and 2 (male 



and femsle). Passcrina id. Vieillot. 

 Icterus ( Embcrizoides ) agripinnis. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 53. 



Bob-o'link. Nottall, Manual Orn. Vol. 1, p. 185. Audubon, Orn. Biog. Vol. 1, p. 283, and Vol. 5, p. 486. 

 Dolichonyx. Rich. & Swainson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 278. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 162. Peabody, Birds of 



Mass. p. 284, 

 D. oryzivorus. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 4, p. 10, pi. 240. 

 Rice-bird. Giraup, Birds of Long island, p. 137. 



Characteristics. Adult male in spring dress, black; hind head cream-color; scapulars, 

 rump and tail-coverts white tinged with ash. Female, young and male 

 in early autumn and winter dress, varied with brownish black and yellow; 

 beneath dull yellow. Length, seven inches. 



Description. The inner webs of the tail-feathers bevelled in a rounded manner ; the three 

 first primaries much longer than the others. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. The spring 

 and summer dress of the male is sufficiently detailed in the specific phrase ; but in autumn 

 he assumes the plumage of the female, which is light yellowish brown, with longitudinal 

 streaks of brownish black ; summit of the head and all beneath dull yellow ; the sides 

 streaked with dusky. 



Length, 6 • 5 — 7*5. Alar spread, 11 "5. 



The Boblink, or Bob-o'link as it is called in this State, is known in others by the various 

 names of Reed-bi?-d, May-bird, Meadow-bird, American Ortolan, Butter-bird and Skunk 

 Blackbird. In the Southern States, where it is highly prized by epicures, it is usually known 

 under the name of Rice-bird. It arrives in this State about the first week in May, and re- 

 turns to the south about the middle or latter part of October. Their northern migration appears 

 to be chiefly by night ; but on their return southwardly, they fly by day. The eggs are of a 

 faint bluish white irregularly spotted with blackish, and placed in a nest on the ground. Their 

 food consists of crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and seeds of various kinds, parti- 

 cularly of the grasses. They have been observed on the Rocky mountains, and their geogra- 

 phical range on the Atlantic side of the continent extends from Mexico to the 54th parallel of 

 north latitude. 



