THE BOBOLINK. 433 



runs for some distance tliroug-h the grass before she takes flight, and approaches 

 it in the same way. It is a frail structure, outwardly composed of dry weed 

 stems and grasses, lined with finer materials of the same kind, and is usually 

 placed in a slight natural depression of the ground and well concealed by a 

 luxurious growth of grass or clover. An average nest measures about 4 inches 

 in outer diameter by 2 inches in depth; the inner cup is about 2 J inches in diam- 

 eter by I5 inches deep. Sometimes a nest may be attached to several weed 

 stems a little distance from the ground. Two such instances are recorded by 

 Mr. Elisha Slate, of Somerset, Massachusetts, in the "Bulletin of the Nuttall 

 Ornithological Club" (Vol. VI, 1881, pp. 117, 118). Want of space prevents me 

 from quoting these here. 



Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny, of New Iberia, Louisiana, tells me that this species 

 breeds m small numbers on Petite Anse Island, on the Gulf coast of Louisiana; 

 and that he has taken two nests with eggs (one on April 18, 1891, and another 

 on April 9, 1892). To set all doubts at rest, he kindly sent me the last-mentioned 

 set, which contained five heavily incubated eggs, one of which was broken in 

 blowing, and one of these is figured. He wrote at the same time: "I believe 

 many of the Bobolinks breed here before they go north; the young birds are 

 here all summer, but an old bird is never seen after the last of April, or after the 

 oats are harvested. They nest in these fields. We shoot the young birds here 

 in May, and again in Sejatember, in which months they are very fat and are 

 considered very good eating-." 



On mentioning this to my friend, Dr. Ralph, who visits Florida everywinter, 

 he told me that he had noticed two pairs of Bobolinks almost daily, near San 

 Mateo, Florida, from about the middle of May until the day of his departure, on 

 June 4, 1892. These birds were most frequently seen near the banks of the St. 

 John's Eiver, close to an oat field, and probably were breeding there. 



From five to seven eggs (usually five or six) are laid to a set, and only one 

 brood is raised in a season. In the more southern parts of their breeding range 

 the young are generally large enough to fly by July 1. They gather then in little 

 flocks with the parents (the male assuming the garb of the female about this 

 time) and are soon thereafter led by them to the marshes, near the seashore, in 

 quest of their favorite food, which at this time of the year is Indian rice; and by 

 August 15 they begin to assemble in the rice fields of the South, remaining there 

 until near the end of September before moving on to their winter homes in South 

 America. Their traveling is mostly done at night. The majority pass through 

 Florida and the West India Islands on their way south, and not through Mexico 

 via Texas. 



The eggs are ovate or short ovate in shape. The shell is close grained 

 and somewhat glossy. The ground color varies from pearl gray or pale ecru 

 drab to a pale reddish brown or pale cinnamon rufous. They are irregularly 

 blotched and spotted with different shades of claret brown, chocolate, heliotrope 

 purple, and lavender markings, intermingled with each other, and varying greatly 

 in size and intensity. Almost every set is differently marked, and it is extremely 

 difficult to give a fair average description. In some specimens the ground color 



16896— No. 3 28 



