STOEIES ABOUT BIRDS. 323 



times, so meaningly, that the hunter gets quite 

 out of patience with him, as he loads his gun 

 again, and prepares for another shot. " Sphe- 

 dilly, sphe-dilly^^^ so the song goes on, when — 

 hang! — The gun is discharged, with just the 

 same success as before ; and the bird dodges, 

 flies away to the next tree, and laughs, with 

 all his might, at the foolish fellow who is burn- 

 ing up his powder for nothing : '^ Chick, chick, 

 sphe sphilly che-fillink !'^ says he, meaning, I 

 suppose, "Bang away, my boy; guess you'll 

 hit him next time. Ha ! ha ! ha ! Try, try 

 again !" 



I have often wished that this bird had a 

 better name. Bobolink is not half musical 

 enough. In some parts of the United States 

 people call him the rice hird^ or the rice hunt- 

 ing ; in others, the reed hird ; and by some, in 

 the southern states, he is called the meadow 

 hird. In New England, and perhaps throughout 

 the northern states, he generally goes by the 

 name of hoholinh. Either of the other names 

 pleases me better than the one to which I have 

 been accustomed from childhood; but none of 

 these, even, suit me exactly. 



