184 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



by the name of Reed-bird. Now they are more plenty on the 

 meadows of the Delaware and Schuylkill than elsewhere, and the 

 Philadelphia markets teem with the delicious little birds. Sports- 

 men do not hunt them ; perhaps when railing a few shots may be 

 fired into their dense ranks, as they whirl by, but the markets are 

 supplied by pot-hunters exclusively. As the cooler weather drives 

 them further south they find still another name, being known as 

 Rice-birds and sometimes Ortolan. In the West Indies where 

 they winter in great numbers they are called Butter-birds. They 

 can hardly be called a game bird, but are highly prized by epicures 

 the country through. 



