BOBOLINK 



Called also: Reedhird; Ricehird; Ortolan; Maybird 



Such a rollicking, jolly singer is the bobolink! 

 On a May morning, when buttercups spangle 

 the fresh grasses in the meadows, he rises from 

 their midst into the air with the merriest frolic 

 of a song you ever heard. Loud, clear, strong, 

 full of queer kinks and twists that could not 

 possibly be written down in our musical scale^ 

 the rippling, reckless music seems to keep his 

 wings in motion as well as his throat ; for when 

 it suddenly bursts forth, up he shoots into the 

 air like a skylark, and paddles himself along 

 with just the tips of his wings while it is the 

 "mad music" that seemingly propels him : — then 

 he drops with his song into the grass again. 

 Frequently he pours out his hilarious melody 

 while swaying on the slender stems of the 

 grasses, propped by the stiff, pointed feathers 

 of his tail. A score or more of bobolinks rising 

 in some open meadow all day long, are worth 

 travelling miles to hear. 



If you were to see the mate of one of these 

 merry minstrels apart from him, you might 

 easily mistake her for another of those tiresome 



137 



