THE UNCHARTED SKY 131 



they congregate in dense swarms. They have few 

 enemies and plenty of food and can spend the 

 winter undisturbed. 



''With the end of February, their memory of the 

 nesting time begins and they prepare for their two 

 thousand mile journey to the United States. Be- 

 fore leaving, the male Bobolink changes his coat 

 again and puts on a thick puffed-out costume of 

 somber yellow, with black spots showing through. 

 In reality, this is his handsome black and buff 

 costume for the spring, but the tip of every feather 

 is fringed with yellow, acting, indeed, exactly like 

 a yellow overcoat. 



"Thus dressed, the males start back on their 

 journey alone, a week or ten days ahead of the 

 females. They reach Florida in the middle of 

 April and some of them stay until May. As yet 

 the yellow overcoat has not all worn away, and the 

 people there, not recognizing them as the light- 

 colored Rice-birds of the previous fall, call them 

 May-birds. Thence they spread to the northward, 

 the yellow tips of the migration plumage wear 

 down and the bird is seen in his black and buff and 

 becomes known once more as that songster, the 

 Bobolink. So, you see, the Bobolink of the sum- 

 mer in northern states, the Reed-bird or Rice-bird 



