152 NollTll AMKIMCAN ItlltDS. 



At tlio north, wlinni ihv llolMtlinks lirood, tliey aro not known to niolpat tlio 

 crops, confining' tlioir food iilnmsl entirely to insi!(rts, or tlii! seeds of viiliudess 

 Vfisds, in till! consiiniplion ol' wliic^li tlioy conlcr Itoiujfit, nitlicr than Imrni. 

 At tlu; sonth tlicy nw iukuihimI ol' injuring thu youiig wlii'ut iis thoy pass 

 nortliward in tiieir spring migrations, and ol" jihiniUsring tho rice plantations 

 on thoir return. Aliout tlic middle of August they appear in alni<i,st innu- 

 nierahle tloeks among the marshes of the Delaware liiver. There they are 

 known as lkeedl)irds. Two weeks later they Itegin to swarm among tlio 

 rice ])lantfttions of South Carolina. Tiiere tiiey take tho name of JJiceliirds. 

 In October they again ])ass on southward, and make another halt among the 

 West India Islands. There they feed uptm the seeds of the (iuinea-gras.s, 

 upon which they hecomc exceedingly fat. In .laniaiea they receive a new 

 appellation, and are called Ilutterbirds. They are everywhere sought after 

 l)y sitortsmen, and are shot in immense nundters for the table of the epicure. 

 More recently it has been ascertained that the.se birds feed greedily upon 

 the larva; of the destructive cotton-worm, and in so doing render an im- 

 mense service to the cultivators of Sea Island cotton. 



Dr. Ihyant, in his visit to the Bahamas, was eye-witness to the migrations 

 northward of these l)irds, as they passed through those islands. He first 

 noted tliem on the Gth of May, towards sunset. A nundjer of flocks — ho 

 counted nine — were flying to the westward. On the following d.ay the coun- 

 try was tilled with these birds, and men and boys turned out in large num- 

 bers to shoot them. He examined a quantity of them, and all were inales 

 in full plumage. Numerous flocks continued to arrive that day and the 

 following, which was Sunday. On Monday, among those that were shot 

 were many females. On Tuesday but few were to be seen, and on Wednes- 

 day they had entirely disappeared. 



Near Washington, Dr. Coues observed the Bobolink to be only a spring 

 and autumnal visitant, from May 1st to the 15th distributed abundantly 

 about orchards and meadows, generally in flocks. In autumn they fre- 

 quented in immense flocks the tracts of Zizania aquatica, along the Potomac, 

 from August 20 to October. 



The Bobolink invariably builds its nest upon the ground, usually in a 

 meadow, and conceals it so well among the standing grass that it is very 

 difficult of discovery until the grass is cut. The female is very wary in leav- 

 ing or in returning to her nest, always alighting upon the ground, or rising 

 from it, at a distance from her nest. The male bird, too, if the nest is ap- 

 proached, seeks to decoy off the intruder by his anxiety over a spot remote 

 from the object of his solicitude. The nest is of the simplest description, 

 made usually of a few flexible stems of grasses carefully interwoven into a 

 shallow and compact nest. The eggs, five or six in number, have a dull 

 white ground, in some tinged Avith a light drab, in othera with olive. They 

 are generally spotted and blotched over the entire egg with a rufous-brown, 

 intermingled with lavender. They are pointed at one end, and measure .90 

 by .70 of an inch. They have but one brood in a season. 



