BOBOLIXK. 135 



tliousand miles to his winter quarters soiitli of tlie Ama- 

 zon. 



The start is made in July, when he joins flocks of 

 his kind in the northern wild-rice {Zizania aquatica) 

 marshes. Late in August he visits the cultivated rice 

 fields of South Carolina and Georgia, and it is at this sea- 

 son we so often hear the metallic tinh of passing migrants. 

 The rice is now in the milk, and the Hicebirds, or Orto- 

 lans, as they are called in the South, are so destructive to 

 the crop that it is estimated they directly or indirectly 

 cause an annual loss of §3,000,000. Some birds linger 

 as far north as Xew York until October 1, but by this 

 time the leaders of the south-bound host have reached 

 Cuba, where they are called Chamhergo. From Cuba 

 they pass to the coast of Yucatan, and thence southward 

 through Central America or to the island of Jamaica, 

 where, l)ecause of their extreme fatness, they are known 

 as Butterbirds. From Jamaica they go to the mainland, 

 either of Central America, or by one continuous flight of 

 four hundred miles to northern South America, thence 

 traveling southward to their winter home. 



The northward journey is begun in March or April, 

 and about the 25th of the latter month the vanguard 

 reaches Florida. It is composed only of males, now 

 called Maybirds, all in full song. Let any one who 

 knows the Bobolink's song imagine, if he can, the effect 

 produced ])y three hundred birds singing together!. 



About May 1 Bobolinks reach the vicinity of Xew 

 York city. Tlie females soon follow the males, and 

 early in June the birds are nesting. This is the glad 

 season of the Bobolink's year. For ten months he has 

 been an exile, but at last he is at home again, and he 

 gives voice to his joy in the jolliest tinkling, rippling, 

 rollicking song that ever issued from bird's throat. 



In the fields made merry by the nmsic of Bobolinks one 



