SONG-BIRDS. Bobolink 



The most likely place to find him is in old, bush-grown 

 pastures, and along the lane hedges; like all the bright- 

 lined birds he is beset by enemies both of earth and sky, 

 but his Sparrow instinct, which has a love for mother- 

 earth, bids him build near the ground. The dangers of the 

 nesting-time fall mostly to his share, for his dull brown 

 mate is easily overlooked as an insignificant Sparrow. Na- 

 ture almost always gives a plain coat to the wives of these 

 gayly dressed cavaliers, for her primal thought is the safety 

 of the home and its young life. 



FAMILY ICTERID^E : BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 

 Bobolink : Dolichonyx oryzivorus. 



After moult Reed-bird. 



PLATE 36. 



Length: 6.50-7 inches. 

 Male : Black head, chin, tail, wings, and under parts. Buff patch on 



back of neck ; also buff edges to some tail and wing feathers. 



Rump and upper wing coverts white. Bill brown. In autumn 



similar to female. 

 Female: Below yellowish brown. Above striped brown, except on 



rump, with yellow and white tips to some feathers. Two dark 



stripes on crown. 

 Song: A delightful, incoherent melody; sung oftentimes as the bird 



soars upward. 



Reason : Early May to October. 

 Breeds: From the middle United States northward, and winters south 



of the United States. 

 Nest : A loose heap of twigs and grass on the ground in low meadows 



and hay-fields ; common, but very difficult to discover. 

 Eggs : 4-6, clear gray, with clouds and markings of dark brown. 

 Eange : Eastern North America to the Great Plains, north to south- 

 ern Canada ; south, in winter, to the West Indies and South 



America. 



The Bobolink, the bird of two lives in one ! The wild, 

 ecstatic black and buff singer, who soars above the May 

 meadows, leaving a trail of rippling music, and in autumn 

 the brown striped bird who, voiceless but for a metallic 

 "chink," is hunted through the marshes by the gunners, 

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