294 ZOOLOGY 



and the "bobolink," as it is called in the North, whose song 

 is the merriest of all birds. In the South, whither the 

 bobolink migrates in the winter, it is a great pest in 



FIG. 278. Purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula). 



the rice-fields, and is known as the "rice-bird." It is 

 slaughtered there as a game-bird. 



The Corvidae include the crows and their allies, all of 

 them birds of large size. The crow, the raven of the West 

 and of Europe, and the blue jay (Fig. 279) are the com- 

 monest North American species of this family. 



