150 Birds Every Child Should Know 



plumage, the meadowlark, for example, is a 

 brown bird with only a black crescent on its 

 breast. Most of the males are dressed quite 

 differently from their mates, although the female 

 grackles are merely duller. Some of these birds 

 sing exquisitely; others wheeze or croak a few 

 unmusical notes. Some live in huge flocks ; some 

 live in couples. Some, like the bobolinks, 

 travel to the tropics and beyond every winter ; 

 others, like the meadowlark, can endure the 

 intense cold of the North. Part of the family 

 feed upon the ground, but the oriole branch 

 live in the trees. Devotion to mates and chil- 

 dren characterise most of the family, but we 

 cannot overlook the cowbird that neither mates 

 nor takes the slightest care of its offspring. 

 The cowbird builds no nest, while its cousin, 

 the Baltimore oriole, is a famous weaver. The 

 bobolink is a rollicking, jolly fellow ; the grackle 

 is solemn, even morose. What a queer family! 



