254 



LAND-BIRDS. 



June ? He is jolly, rollicking, madly happy, recklessly happy. 

 Nothing sober pleases him ; he perches on the elm, because its 

 branches rock and wave in the breeze more than those of 

 another tree ; then he spreads his wings, and, bursting into 

 ecstatic song, sails to the ground, perhaps caresses his mate, 

 then soars again to another perch, and again carols. Who 

 imagines that he has any control over his merry music ? It is 

 a scientific fiction. His song is like champagne, and his notes 

 bubble out, when he opens his bill ; and yet, just as too much 

 champagne is surfeiting, so may be too much of his merry 

 jingle. 



From his notes originate his name " Bobolink," and perhaps 

 the Indian name " Conqueedle " (of the orthography I am 

 uncertain) ; and from them has been formed the following 

 amusing version of his song, which, if repeated rapidly with 

 a rising inflection in each part, illustrates it very well : 



" Tom Noodle, Tom Noodle, you owe me, you owe me, ten 

 shillings and sixpence ! " "I paid you, I paid you ! " " You 

 did n't, you did n't ! " " You lie, you lie ; you cheat ! " 



The ordinary note of the Bobolink is a peculiarly metallic 

 chuck ; but there are also others less often heard, some of 

 which are slightly querulous. 



III. MOLOTHRUS. 

 A. ATER. Cow-bird. 



Fig. 12. Cow-Bird. 



Cow Blackbird. Cow Punting. 

 Cow-pen Bunting, 

 etc. A common sum- 

 mer resident of New 

 England, and noto- 

 rious for the practice 

 of laying eggs in the 

 nests of other birds.* 

 a. About 1 



* The Cow-bird breeds nearly every- 

 where in New England, but in the high- 

 er portions of Massachusetts, among the 

 White Mountains, and throughout the 

 extreme northern portions of New 

 Hampshire and Maine, it is decidedly 



uncommon, and in some localities per- 

 haps altogether wanting. A few birds 

 occasionally spend the entire winter in 

 Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts. 

 W. B. 



