126 



Bird- Lore 



it by hearing the young complain. It 

 contained five young in the same stage as 

 those in the first nest. It was also e.xactly 

 like it in structure. 



The ne.xt day I visited the nest again, 

 and took an accurate measurement of 

 the distance between them. It was a trifle 

 less than fifty-five feet. 



To my surprise, the first nest contained 

 but one bird, — a dead one. Both females 

 however, were still in the neighborhood; 

 but the male was heard singing only 

 once, at a considerable distance away. 



Female No. 2 began, shortly after I 

 left her nest, to feed her young, without 

 any very great fuss. Female No. i was 

 flying about, but her actions were not 

 those of a bereaved Ijird; rather, those of 

 one having a nest nearby; moreover, she 

 carried grubs in her mouth. 



I retired to the top of the rail-fence 

 across the road and awaited developments. 

 It soon became evident that female No. 

 I still had young somewhere in that 

 meadow. She would fly up to a sj)ot 

 almost in front of mc, and much nearer 

 tiu' road than citlicr of the nests. Here 

 she would sit on the tops of dock stalks 

 and scold, occasionally disappearing into 

 the grass, where I fancied that once or 

 twice I heard the buzz of the young; 

 after this she would fly directly away, 

 shortly to return with another grub. 



Lack of lime prevented my searching 

 for the young, which I feel sure were 

 hidden in the grass. 



On the aftcrn(jon of June ig (two days 

 later), I visited the nests again. Nest 

 No. 2 was deserted. The two females and 

 the single male were flying about a short 

 way off. 



June 24, I passed mar a grass lield 

 across the marsh before mentioned. This 

 field was some twt) or three hundred yards 

 from the site of the nests. 



Two females and a single male Hobo- 

 link were seen flying about, the females 

 with grubs in their beaks. The field con- 

 taining the nests was deserted and had 

 been since the 20th, at the time I was 

 first observing the Bobolinks. I passed 

 bv and tliroUi?li this lield dailw and 



feel confident that no Bobolinks nested 

 there. 



June 25 (ne.xt day), I spent some time 

 beating about in this field, and started 

 five young Bobolinks, just able to fly. 

 The two females, and, part of the time, the 

 male, were close by, and manifested much 

 concern. Both the former had grubs in 

 their bills. Probably more young birds 

 were in the grass than I flushed. 



These facts, I think, give very good 

 evidence that the Bobolink is at times 

 polygamous. For at no time did I see 

 more than one male, and to the best of 

 my knowledge, there was not another 

 pair of Bobolinks nesting within half a 

 mile of the place, although the country 

 was favorable. 



They prove, it seems to me, that the 

 young leave the nest before they are able 

 to fly, and are cared for by the females 

 (I never once saw the male with a bit of 

 food of any kind in his bill) for at least 

 a week after they leave the nest. These 

 facts may have been recorded before, 

 but not to mv knowledge. 



While wall hing the Bobolinks, I noticed 

 a somewhat similar condition of atTairs 

 among a colony of Red-winged Black- 

 birds nesting in the alders in the swamp 

 between the two fields. There were only 

 two or three males to a dozen or so females. 

 The old birds tended the young after 

 they had left the nest, and were hidden in 

 the high grass with the young Bobolinks. 

 The male Red-Wings, however, took 

 no ])art in the care of the young. — ^P. L. 

 BuTTRiCK, Ne'w Haven. Conn. 



Evening Grosbeaks in Massachusetts 



1 wonder if inan\- other readers of BlRD- 

 LoRE have been seeing Evening Gros- 

 beaks this past winter or early spring? 

 March 7, 1 saw a flock of seven adult 

 males and between ten and twenty females 

 and iminature males. March 20, I saw a 

 flock in the same place with the same, 

 or nearly the same number of species. 

 I think that most of the gray individuals 

 with yellow tinges on the head and rump, 

 must be iminature males, because thcv 



