256 



SINGING BIRDS — OSCINES. 



logical Exploration of the 4Utli rii,ralli;l, where it occurs in abundance in 

 the wheat-fields, and with habits similar to those so well known at the 

 East. As bobolink in the North and West, reed-bird in Pennsylvania, and 

 rice-bird in the Southern States, it is well-known to every one. It breeds 



abundantly in meadows in tlie North and West, laying its eggs on the 

 ground. Collecting in large flocks, after the breeding-season, it soon passes 

 southward, and as a favorite article of food runs the gauntlet of gunners 

 from Pennsylvania to Florida and the Gulf (P>aird.) 



Gexhs MOLOTHRUS, Swainson. 



Molothnia. SwAINSON, F. Bur. Am. II. IS.Tl, 277. (Type, FiimjlUa pcrrms, Gmelin.) 



GE>f. C'll.M!. Bill ^hort, stout, about two thirds the Icn<itli of hrad ; tlio commissure 

 straight, cuIiirh nml gonys slightly curved, convex, the former broad, rounded, convex, 



M. J'froTIS 



