THE OOLOGIST. 



23 



weed stalk and then by alternating 

 flights and hops, traveling perhaps 50 

 yards before giving utterance to any 

 note of alarm. 



During damp, cloudy and rainy 

 weather, Madam Spinlt sits very close- 

 ly and frequently during the drizzling 

 rain I have walked within a foot 

 or less of her treasures. Occasion- 

 ally I have actually trod upon the 

 nest and the parent bird, although 

 without injury to the latter. 



If the birds have chosen a grassy 

 field where the living vegetation is 

 very short;,' but last • year's growth 

 covers a greater portion of the earth, 

 forming, wind beaten masses or tus- 

 socks, the nssts- are often concealed 

 ,s)imply by ■ the last year's growth, 

 which is dead and dry, forming ex- 

 cellent shelter. 



I have a distinct recollection of the 

 very cold and wet spring and late 

 summer during 1902. The prairie 

 sloughs were almost entirely submer- 

 ged, with here and there a slight knoll 

 or elevation perhaps not to exceed 

 one-tenth of an acre in extent. The 

 Bobolinks together with the Meadow 

 Larks, Savanna, Grasshoppers and 

 Henslow's Sparrows, had taken refuge 

 in these high places after their first 

 set had been destroyed by the high 

 water. On several of the "risesi" in 

 the prairies, of very limited extent, I 

 found no less than ten nests of the 

 Bobolink. They were adeptly hidden 

 under weed stalks, or the luxurious 

 grass which was specially rank like 

 all other verdure during cool, damp 

 weather. 



I have also been quite successful in 

 approaching the incubating female 

 during very windy days oy walking 

 against the breeze. She seems to per- 

 miti^ery close inspection at this time 

 proUkbly due to the fact, that her hear- 

 ing is not so acute when the grass is 

 disturbed so that it appears to be mov- 

 ing over the surface of the earth in 



great waves, caused by the action of 

 our prevailing" lake winds. 



Regardless of the fact that these 

 nests are a p.uzzle to the naturalist, 

 our wily Cow-bird often uses the Bob- 

 olink's home as a depository for her 

 eggs. I have found one nest contain- 

 ing nine eggs, five belonging to the 

 owner of the nest and the other four 

 laid by a Cow-bird. 



^Vhen the offspring have hatched, 

 but still occupy the nest, the parents 

 are not so illusive but show greater 

 anxiety without attempting to entice 

 the searcher from their young. I 

 would safely assert that it would be 

 easier to detect three nests full of 

 young after June 13th, than to un- 

 cover a set of fresh eggs about the 

 first cf the same month. 



Last Decoration day my companion 

 found one nest containing the unusual 

 number of seven eggs. 



GERARD ALAN ABBOTT, 

 Chicago, Illinois. 



Another View of the Bobolink. 



The excellent papers regarding the 

 habits of the Bobolink, in recent is- 

 sues of the Oologist, have aroused my 

 interest to the point where I am fain 

 to record my own observations. Most 

 writers agree that the female is re- 

 markably secretive near its nest and 

 extremely cautious in any movements 

 which would tend to betray the fate- 

 ful secret. Many observers, moreover, 

 assign to the male a sbare of this cau- 

 tion, and make him a very suitable 

 partner to his wary spouse. Now, 

 while the writer is free to say that 

 his personal observations of the nest- 

 ing habits of the Bobolink have not 

 been exhaustive, his experience has 

 been somewhat at variance with the 

 generally accepted accounts. Another 

 view of the Bobolink, therefore, may 

 not be amiss in affording a well-roundf 



