208 BEPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



66. Under parts gray or plumbeous. 



c. Lighter below than above, bill short and thick. 



COWBIRD (female), p. 209 



cc. Uniform above and below (edged with rusty in autumn), bill more 

 slender. RUSTY BLACKBIRD (female), p. 215 



666. Under parts not uniform black or gray, 

 c. Throat black. 



d. Belly chestnut. ORCHARD ORIOLE, p. 213 



dd. Belly orange. BALTIMORE ORIOLE, p. 214 



ddd. Belly olive-yellow. ORCHARD ORIOLE (young), p. 213 



cc. Throat not black. 



d. A black crescent or a necklace of spots across the breast, 

 belly yellow. MEADOW LARK, p. 212 



dd. Buff below, streaked on the sides with brown or black. 



BOBOLINK (female and autumnal male), p. 208 

 ddd. Uniform pale orange below. 



BALTIMORE ORIOLE (female), p. 214 

 dddd. Uniform olive-yellow. ORCHARD ORIOLE (female), p. 213 



494 Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linnaeus). 

 Bobolink,, Reedbird. 



PLATE 49. 



Adult male in spring and summer. Length, 6.50-7.50. Wing, 3.75. Head 

 all around and entire under parts, black, sometimes with buff edgings to feathers ; 

 back of neck in broad half collar, buff ; back, black, streaked with buff ; scap- 

 ulars, rump and upper tail-coverts, white, more or less shaded with gray ; tail, 

 black ; wings, black ; flight feathers edged with buff. 



In autumn. Above, light buffy-olive, two broad blackish stripes on the 

 crown ; feathers of the back largely black, the buff edgings forming two longi- 

 tudinal stripes; wings edged with buff; under parts, buff, deepest on the 

 breast; flanks heavily streaked with black, often a few black feathers on the 

 throat and breast. 



Adult female. Similar to autumnal male, but never showing black feathers 

 below. 



Young in first summer. Feathers of the upper surface black, broadly edged 

 with buff; head, black, with a median buff stripe; hind neck entirely buff; 

 under parts, pale buff. 



Nest of grass, situated on the ground and well concealed ; eggs, four to six, 

 grayish-white, spotted irregularly with brown, .84 x .62. 



Common transient visitant; summer resident from Princeton and 

 Plainfield, northward, but locally distributed. Arrives May 2d (May 

 8th), departs September 20th. 



What a pity that such a splendid bird as this cannot be protected 

 and perpetuated ! Its song is one of the wonders of our bird music, 



