A MIDSUMMER EXCURSION 253 



" Y-e-s, I remember," said Dodo, " but I don't think 

 he was a bit like this Bobolink ; for that harlequin 

 didn't say a word, only made signs, and the Bobolink 

 sings faster than any bird I ever heard before." 



'' Yes, he sings now, but it is only for a short time. 

 Next month he will be dumb, and before you know it 

 his beautiful shining black coat, with the white and 

 buff trimmings, will have dropped off. Then he will 

 be changed to dull brown like his wife, and keep as 

 quiet as poor Cinderella sitting in the ashes. 



'^ Do you see any birds in that meadow of long grass? " 

 asked the Doctor. 



'' I don't see any in the grass," said Rap ; " but there 

 are some Bobolinks all about in the trees along the 

 edges, and more of them up in the air. Where are 

 their nests, Doctor? I've never found a Bobolink's 

 nest ! " 



'•'■ Their nests are hidden in that long grass, and their 

 mates also. Whoever would find them must have the 

 patience of an Indian, the eyes of a bird, and the cun- 

 ning of a fox. 



" Mrs. Bobolink finds a little hollow in the ground 

 where the roots grow, and rounds up a nest from the 

 grass stalks with finer grass tops inside. Then she 

 so arranges the weeds and stems above her home that 

 there is no trace of a break in the meadow ; and when 

 she leaves tlie nest she never goes boldly out by the 

 front door or bangs it behind her, but steals off through 

 a by-path in the grass. When she flies out of shelter 

 at last, she has already run a good way off, so that, 

 instead of telling the watcher where her home is, she 

 tells him exactly where it is not. 



