THE BOBOLINK 221 



about among the branches as happy as could be. But for 

 two or three days he did not go far from the house. Then 

 he began singing his wonderful rollicking song, whistling 

 and calling for hours every morning, evidently in hopes 

 that he might find a mate. It was not until he was turned 

 loose and began singing that we recognized him as a bobo- 

 link. Even now I am not sure whether we guessed it our- 

 selves or whether some one told us his identity. 



This was my first experience with a bobolink. I never 

 knew whether this bird found a mate. At any rate he left 

 us within four or five days after he became able to fly 

 and never returned. We frequently heard a bobolink sing- 

 ing in the meadow, the grove, and the orchard near by; 

 but as I never found its nest, I was never sure that it 

 was my liberated friend. 



The male bobolinks come north a week or two before 

 the females, and for two weeks are as care-free a lot of 

 bachelors as one would care to see. This time is spent 

 in making the fields and meadows ring with song. When 

 the females arrive they are to be courted and won before 

 nest building can begin, and as my bird was found about 

 the time the first birds arrived he was probably healed be- 

 fore the last of the females arrived. 



The bobolink should be given a place among our half 

 dozen best songsters. He has a wonderful range of 

 notes and it would be hard to improve on his song. 

 Beautifully colored as he is, his mate is a dull, sober- 

 looking brown bird. Nevertheless he is always proud of 

 her and does his utmost to entertain her with song dur- 

 ing the brooding season. He feeds on a variety of things, 

 eating caterpillars and insects of various kinds greedily 

 in the summer time. He seems to be especially fond of 



