THE BOBOLINK 311 



another suit and another name in the South; and it has three 

 reputations. 



When in springtime a certain jolly and vigorous little song- 

 bird comes up from the South, he puts on a dress-suit of mar- 

 vellous design, in black, white, brown and gray, as shown 

 opposite the page following. He is then a regular swell, and 

 his name is Bobolink. His mate, however, is a plain little 

 bird, clad in yellowish brown, with slight trimmings of yellow 

 and white. They frequent the marshes and low meadows, 

 nest on the ground, and rear from five to seven young. 



That accomplished, the male bird doffs his pretty spring 

 suit, acquires plumage like that of the female, and then they 

 go South. There they become Rice Birds, and years ago, 

 when there were great rice-fields in the Carolinas, they raided 

 those fields for rice, and grew fat. Then came the Man- 

 With-a-Gun ; and the birds fell easy victims. The birds 

 were shot for two reasons: The rice-planters found them a 

 nuisance in their fields, and many people think Rice Birds 

 are good eating. 



Those conditions led straight to a very deplorable result. 

 Although the rice-fields of the Carolinas are practically gone, 

 the old status of the Bobolink as a game bird still persists, and 

 wherever the shameless state laws permit it that beautiful 

 song-bird is persistently shot by "sportsmen" as game. This 

 is an outrage, and it must be terminated as quickly as pos- 

 sible. 



Consider the "Reed Bird on toast," or, worse still, "on 

 a skewer." It is a trifle too large for one mouthful, but by 

 no means large enough for two. A healthy, able-bodied 



