777 /; BOBOLINK. 



119 



THE BOBOLINK. 



LIKK all mischievous, merry fellows, this jolly reveller has his hosts of friends 

 and a number of enemies. His friends may be divided into classes, those who 

 enjoy his mad, merry music, his jaunty, showy coat, and sprightly ways, and those 

 who have no taste for music* but who have excellent appetites, and crave Bobolinks 

 on toast. 



His enemies are the farmers, whose plentiful rice-crops are left in sad plight 

 by his merciless raids : meanwhile Robert grows fat and lazy on the results of his 

 pillage. 



The Bobolink, when seen in his most showy plumage, is a very attractive bird, 

 and, like all careful lovers, exhibits his best coat only during the days of courtship. 



The plumage of the male Bob- 

 olink during breeding season 

 is as follows : Upper part of 

 the head, wings, tail, sides of 

 neck, and whole lower parts, 

 are black, the feathers fre- 

 quently skirted with brownish 

 yellow ; back of the head, 

 a cream- color ; back, black 

 seamed with brownish yellow ; 

 scapulars, pure white ; rump 

 and tail coverts the same. 

 The tail is formed like that 

 of the Woodpecker, and often 

 Bobolink. used in the same manner, be- 



ing thrown in to support the 

 bird while ascending the stalks of the reed. 



After the breeding season, or about the month of August, the plumage of the 

 male changes ; and he gradually assumes the same garb as worn by the females and 

 young birds. The colors then are : yellowish brown above, brownish yellow below ; 

 upper parts and sides below streaked with black ; wings and tail dusky, with pale 

 edges of the feathers. The male, after having changed plumage, cannot be distin- 

 guished from the female. The length of the Bobolink is seven inches and a half. 

 Early in May, in the Northern States, the Bobolinks' merry chorus is heard ; and, 

 if you walk abroad for an hour amid the fresh fields and pastures, you are greeted, 

 not only from every rail in the fence, but every sighing breeze bears its burden 



