152 Nuirni amkiucan iiii:i)S. 



At the uortli, wImtj* tlic lioholinks lireed, tlicv urn not known to molost the 

 crops, coiitinin^ their I'ood silniost entirely to insects, or the seeds of vahudess 

 wee«ls, in tlie eonsuniptinn ut which they confer l>enetit, rather than harm. 

 At tlie soutli they are accused of injuring the youn.'Lj wlieat as they pass 

 northward in tlieir spring' nii^T.itions, mid of jthniderinL; the rice plantations 

 on their return. Ahout the middle of Au^aist they appear in alm(»st innu- 

 merahle tloeks among the marshes of the Delaware River. There they are 

 known as lieedhirds. Two weeks later thev hegin to swarm amon-" the 

 rice jdantations of South Carolina. There they take the name of Jlicehirds. 

 In Octoljer they again i>ass on southward, and make another halt among the 

 West India Islands. There they feecl upon the seeds of the ( Juinea-giiiss, 

 upon which they hecome exceedingly fat. In »famaica they receive a new 

 aj»pellation, and are called IJutterbirds. They are everywhere sought after 

 by sjKU'tsmen, and are shot in immense nund)ers for the table of the epicure. 

 More recently it has )>een ascertained that these birds feed greedily upon 

 the larva' of the destructive cotton-worm, and in so doing render an im- 

 mense service to the cultivators of Sea Island cotton. 



Dr. I'ryant, in his visit to the IJahamas, was eye-witness to the migrations 

 northward of these birds, as they passed through those islands. He first 

 noted them on the Gth of Mav, towards sunset. A number of Hocks — he 

 counted nine — were flving to the westward. On the following day the coun- 

 try was tilled with these birds, and men and l)oys turned out in large num- 

 bers to sjjoot them. He examined a quantity of them, and all were males 

 in full plumage. Numerous Hocks continued to arrive that day and the 

 following, which was Sunday. On Monday, among those thiit were shot 

 were many females. On Tuesday but few were to be seen, and on Wednes- 

 day they had entindy disappeared. 



Near Washington, Dr. Coues observed the Bol)olink to be only a spring 

 and autumnal yisitant, from May 1st to the loth distributed abundantly 

 about orchards and meadows, generally in flocks. In autumn they fre- 

 quented in immense flocks the tracts of Zizania aquatica, along the Potomac, 

 from August 20 to October. 



The Bobolink invariably builds its nest upon the ground, usudly in a 

 meadow, and conceals it so well among the standing grass that it is very 

 difficult of discoyery until the grass is cut. The female is very wary in leav- 

 ing or in returning to her nest, always alighting upon the ground, or rising 

 from it, at a distance from her nest. The male bird, too, if the nest is ap- 

 proached, seeks to decoy off the intruder by his anxiety over a spot remote 

 from the object of his solicitude. The nest is of the simplest description, 

 made usually of a few flexible stems of grasses carefully interwoven into a 

 shallow^ and compact nest. The eggs, five or six in number, have a dull 

 white ground, in some tinged with a light drab, in others with olive. They 

 are generally spotted and blotched over the entire egg with a rufous-brow^n, 

 intermingled with lavender. They are pointed at one end, and measure .90 

 by .70 of an inch. They have but one brood in a season. 



