THE BOBOLINK. u 



No. 4. 



BOBOLINK. 



A. O. U. No. 494. Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linn.). 



Synonyms. SKUNK BLACKBIRD; REED-BIRD; RICE-BIRD; MEADOW-WINK. 



Description. Adult male, breeding plumage : Head and below, rich glossy 

 black, the feathers having at first a buft'y edging which wears off as the season 

 advances; a broad nuchal patch of strong buff or cream; scapulars, lower back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts pale white ; middle back gray ; upper back, wings 

 and tail glossy to dead black with various buffy edging; tail-feathers sharply 

 pointed ; bill dull black ; feet brown. Adult female : Ground color of plumage 

 olive-buff, clearest below, and in median crown, superciliary, and inter-scapular 

 stripes; the remainder black and brownish-fuscous. Adults in fall, and young: 

 Like female in spring, but buffier and with less black throughout. Length 7.00- 

 7.50 (177.8-190.5); wing 3.00-4.00 (76.2-101.6); tail 2.75-3.00 (69.8-76.2); bill 

 .55 (14.) ; tarsus .90-1.00 (22.9-25.4). Female averages a half-inch shorter, with 

 similar proportions. 



Recognition Marks. Chewink size; black, white, and buff plumage of 

 breeding male. The breeding female is a shy and obscurely colored bird, to be 

 recognized by the amateur mainly through the attentions of the male. At other 

 seasons both sexes and all ages may be known by the frequently uttered dink 

 cry. In the hand the acute tail-feathers are quite distinctive. 



Nest, on the ground in meadows or deserted fields, a slight, grass-lined 

 depression concealed with some art, but not definitely overarched. Eggs, 4-7, 

 yellowish clay or stone-gray, heavily spotted and blotched with umber, drab, 

 and even lavender. Av. size, .87 x .63 (22.1 x 16.). 



General Range. "Eastern North America, west to edge of Great Plains, 

 breeding in Northern United States and more southern British Provinces ; in 

 winter south to West Indies and South America" (Ridgw.). 



Range in Ohio. "Abundant summer resident in northern, very common 

 spring and fall migrant, less common summer resident and breeding in middle, 

 and migrant only in southern Ohio" (Wheaton). 



NEXT after Bluebird, the coming of Bobolink marks the broadest step in 

 that golden stair of springtime, by which we yearly attain the height of orni- 

 thological joy. His coming heralds that tidal wave of migration which begins 

 somewhere during the last week in April, and sweeps over us till the middle of 

 May. Without waiting for their more modest mates, the males press north- 

 ward, hot-winged, to riot for a while over the dank meadows in bachelor com- 

 panies, and to perfect that marvel of tumultuous song. Oh how they sing! 

 those Bacchanals of springtime. From fence-post or tree-top, or quivering 

 in mid-air, they pour forth such an ecstacy of liquid 'gurgling notes as must 

 thrill the very clods. Such exuberance of spirit, such reckless abandon of 

 mirth-compelling joy would cure a sick preacher on blue Monday. As the 

 bird sings he bows and scrapes and pirouettes till, as Wheaton says, "he re- 



