I'JO 



VKliTEBRATA. 



Mack, assumes a rtissot, tliisky garlt, ami sinks to the gross enjoyments of common, vulgar birds. 

 His notes no longer vilirate on the ear; lie is stiifling liiinself with the seeds of the tall weeds, on 

 wiiieh he lati-ly swung and ehanted so nieloilionsly. He has become a ' bon-vivant,' a ' gour- 

 mand;' witli liiui now there is nothing like the 'joys of the table.' In a little while he grows 

 tired of ]>!ain, houiclv fare, and is off on a gastronomieal tour in quest of foreign liixui'ies. We 

 next hear of him, with myriads of his kind, banqueting among the reeds of the Delaware, and 

 grown corpulent with good feeding. lie has changed liis name in traveling: Boblincon no more, 

 he is the Rccd-Bird now, the much sought for titbit of Pennsylvania epicures; the rival in un- 

 link v fame of the ortolan! Wherever lie goes, pop! pop! pop! every rusty firelock in the coun- 

 try is blazing awav. He sees his companions falling by thousands around him. 



"])oes he take warning and reform ? Alas, not he! Incorrigible epicure! again he wings liis 

 flight. The rice-swamps of the South invite him. He gorges liimself among them almost to 

 bursting ; he can scarcely fly for corpulency. He has once more changed his name, and is now 

 the famous Rice-Bird of the Carolinas. 



"Last stage of his career: behold him spitted with dozens of liis corpulent companions, and 

 served up a vaunted dish on the table of some Southern gastronome. 



"Such is the story of the boblink: once spiritual, musical, admired, the joy of the meadows, 

 and the favorite bird of spring; finally, a gross little sensualist, who expiates his sensuality in the 

 larder. His story contains a moral worthy the attention of all little birds and little boys, warning 

 them to keep to those refined and intellectual pursuits which raised him to so high a pitch of 

 popularity during the early part of his career ; but to eschew all tendency to that gross and dis- 

 sipated indulgence which brought this mistaken little bird to an untimely end." 



Bryant speaks in a gayer humor : 



" Merrily swinging on briar and weed, 

 Near to the nest of his little dame, 

 Over the mountain, river, and mead, 

 Kobert of Lincoln is telling his name: 

 Bob-o'-Iink, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink ; 

 Snug and safe is that nest of ours, 

 Hidden among the summer flowers, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



" Robert of Lincoln is gaily drest, 



Wearing a bright blue wedding-coat, 

 White on his shoulders and white his crest, 

 Hear him call, in his merry note : 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink; 

 Look what a nice new coat is mine, 

 Sure there was never a bird so fine, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



" Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife. 



Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings, 

 Passing at home a patient life, 



Breeds in the grass while her husband sings: 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink; 

 Brood, kind creature, and never fear 

 Thieves or robbers while I am here, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



" Modest and shy as a nun is she, 

 One weak chirp is hor only note; 

 Braggart and prince of braggarts is he, 

 Pouring boasts from his little throat : 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink ; 

 Never was I afraid of man. 

 Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



" Six white eggs on a bed of hay, 



Flecked with purple, a pretty sight: 

 There as the mother sits all day, 

 Robert is singing with all his might: 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink ; 

 Nice good wife that never goes out. 

 Keeping home while I frolic about, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



"Soon as the little ones chip the shell, 

 Six wide mouths are open for food ; 

 Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well, 

 Gathering seeds for the hungry brood : 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink. 

 This new life is likely to be 

 Hard for a gay young fellow like me, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



"Robert of Lincoln at length is made 

 Sober with work and silent with care ; 

 Off is his holiday garment laid. 

 Half-forgotten that merry air: 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink ; 

 Nobody knows but my wife and I 

 Where our nest and our nestlings lie, 

 Chee, chee, chee. 



" Summer wanes — the children are grown, 

 Leisure and frolic no more he knows; 

 Robert of Lincoln's a hum-drum crone, 

 Off he flies, and we sing as he goes: 

 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 

 Spink, spank, spink ; 

 When you can j)ipe that merry old strain, 

 Robert of Lincoln, come again, 

 Chee, chee, chee." 



