150 NOUTU AMKRKWX WUim. 



Haimts. Tlie well-known and tuniiliur P.nholink of Xortli America lias, 

 ut tlilleit'iit seasons ot" the vi*ar, a leniarkaldv extended distriluition. In its 

 mi^'mtioiis it travei-ses all ot" the I'nited States east of the hi^h central jihiins 

 to the Atlaiitie as far to the nortli as the r>4lh paraUel, whidi is ludieved to 

 he its most northern limit, and which it reaches in .fnne. In the winter it 

 reaches, in its wanderin;^', tlie AVest Indies, ( 'entral America, tlur northern 

 anil even tlie central portions of South America. Von Pelzeln obtained 

 lira/ilian sperimens from Matoi^rosso and Iiin Madeira in Xoveml>er, and 

 from Maral»itanas, April 4tli and l.'Uh. Those jaocured in A])ril were 

 in their summer or hree<linu' pluma«j:e, suiiueslin*; tlie jKissihility of their 

 breediuix in the hidi jrrounds of Soutli America. Sclater received specimens 

 from Santa Marta and from Ilolivia. Otlier siu-cimens liave been reported 

 as comin*,' from Kio Negro, Rio Napo, in Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Porto IJico, 

 l*araguay, Uuenos Ayres, etc. 



In Xorth America it breeds from the 42d to the 54th parallel, and in 

 some parts of the country it is very abundant at this season. TUv most 

 soutliern breeding locality hitlierto recorded is the forks of the Susquehanna 

 lliver, along the west branch of which, es})ecially in the AVyoming Valley, 

 it was formerly very abundant. 



Mr. Kidgway also observed this bird in Iiuby Valley where, among the 

 wheat-fields, small comi)anies were occasionally seen in August. lie was 

 informed that, near Salt Lake City, tliese bir<ls are seen in ^lay, and again 

 late in the summer, when the grain is ripe. 



Of all our nnimitative and natural songsters tlie Bobolink is by far the 

 most popular and attractive. Always original and ]>eculiarly natural, its 

 song is exquisitely musical. In the variety of its notes, in the rapidity with 

 which they are uttered, and in the touching pathos, heauty, and melcjdy of 

 their tone and exi>ression, its notes are not equalled by those of any other 

 North American bird. We know of none, among our native feathered song- 

 sters, whose song resembles, or can be compared with it. 



In the earliest approaches of spring, in Louisiana, when small Hocks of 

 male Bobolinks make their first appearance, they are said, by Mr. Audubon, 

 to sing in concert ; and their song thus given is at once exceedingly novel, 

 interesting, and striking. Uttered with a volubility that even borders upon 

 the burlesque and the ludicrous, the wlude effect is greatly heightened by 

 the singular and striking manner in which first one singer and then an- 

 other, one following the other until all have joined their voices, take up the 

 note and strike in, after the leader has set the example and given the 

 signal. In this manner sometimes a party of thirty or forty Bol>olinks will 

 begin, one after the other, until the whole unite in producing an extraor- 

 dinary medley, to which no pen can do justice, but which is described 

 as very i)leasant to listen to. All at once the music ceases with a sudden- 

 ness not less striking and extraordinary. These concerts are repeated from 

 time to time, usually as often as the flock alight. This performance may 



