BOBOLINK, OR REED-BIRD. 159 



had observed this season welcomed our appearance 

 by carolling forth the sweet notes from which it 

 derives its name. 



From being migratory, and changing its plumage 

 during the time of its periodical journeys, arise, 

 doubtless, the number of appellations by which this 

 diminutive songster is known. In the rice-fields of 

 Carolina it is a Bice Bunting ; in the marshes of the 

 Delaware, a Beed-bird ; and in New England, a 

 Bobolink. But widely different as are its names, its 

 habits are equally so. In the southern and central 

 countries it is gregarious ; in the less hospitable and 

 more temperate, it is seldom seen otherwise than in 

 pairs. To some extent this difference may be ac- 

 counted for by the fact that when it breeds in the 

 North the nurturing of a family requires undivided 

 attention; whereas in the South, where this little 

 beauty appears to have nothing else to do but to 

 enjoy itself, it assembles in flocks, either from a love 

 of sociability, or for protection against birds of prey, 

 its instinct suggesting to it that ' unity is strength/ 

 The reed-bird is very much like the linnet in 

 shape. It is about seven and a half inches long, and 

 twelve inches across the extended wings. The colour 

 of the male bird in spring is very much more brilliant 

 than later in the season. The back, wing-coverts, 

 and tail, vary from russet-brown to black ; the tail- 

 coverts, scapulars, and rump, are pure white ; the 

 lowest parts of the body are of a lead colour. They 

 use their tails in a similar manner to the house- 



