NOTES ON NOVA SCOTIAN ZOOLOGY PIERS. 261 



rufous) margined with whitish on outer edge ; legs and bill dark- 

 brown ; eyes brown. Measurements: wing, 12.90 in.; tail, 

 7.50; exposed culmen, 1.93; depth of bill at base, .92 ; tarsus, 

 2.37. 



BOBOLINK (Dolichonyx oryzivoruus). As is well known, this 

 bird is now exceedingly rare at Halifax, although formerly it 

 was rather common. On the marshes in the western parts of the 

 province it is still very abundant. On May 20th, 1895, while 

 walking past a field in the western part of Halifax, my ears 

 were saluted by the rollicking, gurgling notes of a Bobolink, and 

 I saw a fine male in full plumage sitting on the top rail of a 

 fence. His notes brought to my mind the flat, diked lands of 

 Grand Pr and Windsor. I went over a wall after him and 

 vsoon he flushed out of the wet grass and in full song flew to the 

 top-rail of a neighbouring fence, where he alternately pruned his 

 feathers and sang his glorious song. This ditty begins with a 

 few metallic notes, somewhat bell-like in tone, from which 

 the singer proceeds belter skelter into an inimitable rush of 

 liquid, light-hearted music. 



On May 28th, 1897, I heard another Bobolink singing in a 

 swampy bit of grass-land on the side of Chebucto Road, near 

 the North West Arm, Halifax. 



In May, 1896, my friend Mr. Walter Brett, of Sackvllle, 

 N. S., showed me a specimen which he had collected at that 

 place. He also informs me that during the spring he saw two 

 males: one at Sackville and the other on the Bedford rifle-range. 

 Still another, a young male, was taken by him on September 

 13th, 1897. It therefore is evident that the bird is found occa- 

 sionally on the meadows bordering the Sackville River. 



MEADOW LARK (Sturnella magna). On October 24th, 1895, 

 a Meadow Lark was obtained by Mr. Dickie, of Canning, King's 

 Co. The bird is very rare in this province. 



BRONZED GRACKLE (Quiscalus quiscala ceneus). On Novem- 

 ber 9th, 1894, one of these Grackles was shot on the Preston 



