WHERE SWALLOWS ROOST 95 



upward by the mine of melody which explodes with- 

 in them. 



Swamp Sparrows are common, and their clear 

 trill is one of the few August songs. Bobolinks, 

 traveling in disguise and under the assumed name 

 of " Reedbird," pause here to feed on the ripening 

 wild rice. 47 Some of them have not yet completed 

 their change of costume and appear in a spotted suit 

 of black and yellow. Occasionally one hears a sup- 

 pressed burst of the " mad music " of June, but their 

 common note is a metallic chink. At night this 

 note is heard from high in the air, as the birds con- 

 tinue their journey to the cultivated rice fields of 

 South Carolina and Georgia, there to remain until 

 September or October, when they leave for their 

 winter home south of the Amazon. 



The Sora Rails, beloved of sportsmen and epi- 

 cures, are also attracted to the marshes by the wild 

 rice. On their arrival in early August they are in- 

 deed " as thin as a rail," but an abundance of food 

 soon rounds their bodies into comparative plump- 

 ness. The 1st of September is a black day in their 

 calendar. Then they are outlawed, a price is set on 

 their bodies, and at high tide each day during this 

 sad month one sees numerous puffs of smoke arise 

 from the tall grasses and dull reports come boom- 

 ing over the marsh with fateful frequency. 



But the characteristic birds of the marshes at this 

 season are Swallows. They outnumber many times 

 all the rest of the marsh birds together in fact, are 

 present in such myriads that their gatherings are 

 one of the most interesting and impressive phenom- 

 ena of the bird life of this region. 



