144 NEW-YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



GENUS DOLICHONYX. Swainson. 



Bill thick, conical, very robust and acute : upper mandible with the dorsal line straight. 

 Nostrils small, operculate. Wings broad, pointed ; the first quill longest. Tail moderate, 

 with the feathers narrow and acuminated at the tips. 



THE BOBLINK. 



DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS. 

 PLATE XXII. FIG. 48 (Male). 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Emheriza oryzivora, LmN«;ns, 12 ed. p. 311. 

 - Rice Bunting. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 360. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 48, pi. 12, figs. 1 and 2 (male 

 and female). Passerinaid. Vieillot. 

 Icterus ( Emberizoides ) agnpinnis. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 53. 



Bob-o'link. Ndttai.l, Manual Orn. Vol. 1, p. 185. Aodubon, Orn. Biog. Vol. 1, p. 283, and Vol. 5, p. 486. 

 Dolichonyx. Rich. & Swainson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 278. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 162. Peabody, Birds of 



Mass. p. 284, 

 D. oryzivorus. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 4, p. 10, pi. 240. 

 Rice-bird. Giraod, Birds of Long island, p. 137. 



Characteristics. Adult male in spring dress, black ; hind head cream-color ; scapulars, 

 rump and tail-coverts white tinged with ash. Female, young and male 

 in early autumn and winter dress, varied with brownish black and yellow; 

 beneath dull yellow. Length, seven inches. 



Description. The inner webs of the tail-feathers bevelled in a rounded manner ; the three 

 first primaries much longer than the others. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. The spring 

 and summer dress of the male is sufficiently detailed in the specific phrase ; but in autumn 

 he assumes the plumage of the female, which is light yellowish brown, with longitudinal 

 streaks of brownish black ; summit of the head and all beneath dull yellow ; the sides 

 streaked with dusky. 



Length, 6"5-7-5. Alar spread, 11'5. 



The Boblink, or Bob-o'link as it is called in this State, is known in others by the various 

 names of Reed-bird, May-bird, Meadow-bird, American Ortolan, Butter-bird and Skunk 

 Blackbird. In the Southern States, where it is highly prized by epicures, it is usually known 

 under the name of Rice-bird. It arrives in this State about the first week in May, and re- 

 turns to the south about the middle or latter part of October. Their northern migration appears 

 to be chiefly by night ; but on their return southwardly, they fly by day. The eggs are of a 

 faint bluish white irregularly spotted with blackish, and placed in a nest on the ground. Their 

 food consists of crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and seeds of various kinds, parti- 

 cularly of the grasses. They have been observed on the Rocky mountains, and their geogra- 

 phical range on the Atlantic side of the continent extends from Mexico to the 54th parallel of 

 north latitude. 



