RICE BUNTING, OR BOB-0-LINK. 187 



kinds of insects and worms on their first arrival, I have 

 found that their frequent visits among the grassy 

 meadows were often also for the seeds they contain ; and 

 they are particularly fond of those of the Dock and Dan- 

 delion, the latter of which is sweet and oily. Later in 

 the season, and previously to leaving their native regions, 

 they feed principally on various kinds of grass seeds, par- 

 ticularly those of the Pajiicums, which are allied to mil- 

 let. They also feed on crickets and grasshoppers, as well 

 as beetles and spiders. Their nest is fixed on the ground 

 in a slight depression, usually in a field of meadow orass 

 either in a dry or moist situation, and consists merely of a 

 loose bedding of withered grass, so inartificial, as scarcely 

 to be distinguishable from the rest of the ground around it. 

 The eggs are 5 or 6, of a dull white, inclining to olive, 

 scattered all over with small spots and touches of lilac 

 brown, with some irregular blotches of dark rufous brown 

 chiefly disposed towards the larger end. 



The males, arriving a little earlier than the other sex, 

 now appear very vigorous, lively, and familiar. Many 

 quarrels occur before the mating is settled ; and the fe- 

 males seem at first very coy and retiring. Emulation 

 fires the Bob-6-link at this period, and rival songsters pour 

 out their incessant strains of enlivening music from every 

 fence and orchard tree. The quiet females keep much on 

 the ground, but as soon as they appear, they are pursued 

 by the ardent candidates for their affection, and if either 

 seems to be favored, the rejected suitor is chased off the 

 ground, as soon as he appears, by his more fortunate rival. 

 The song of the male continues with little interruption as 

 long as the female is sitting, and his chant, at all times very 

 similar, is both singular and pleasant. Often, like the Sky- 

 lark, mounted, and hovering on the wing, at a small 

 height above the field, as he passes along from one tree 



