224 ^'EW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



or clover fields or swamplands, in a slight hollow in the ground, composed 

 of dry leaves, weed stems and coarse grasses, lined with finer grasses. 

 Outside dimensions, 4 by 2 inches; inside dimensions, 2| by ij. The 

 eggs are from 4 to 7 in number — in this State usually 5 or 6 — pale drab 

 or pearl gray in color, sometimes pale rufous, rather thickly blotched and 

 spotted with irregular lines and marks of chocolate, claret brown, lavender 

 and deep purplish. They average .84 inches in length by .62 in diameter. 

 The nest is very difficult to discover as the female rarely leaves it directly 

 when disturbed, but almost without exception runs through the grass 

 before taking wing. The surest way is to lie in wait and watch the locality 

 where they disappear with nesting materials or when visiting the nest 

 after the eggs are laid; but even then they usually alight some distance 

 from the nest and considerable strategy is necessary in order to locate 

 it exactly. The young are hatched in about 11 days and develop very 

 rapidly so that they are able to take wing in from 10 to 14 days; but even 

 at this rate, although the fresh sets of eggs are usually found from the 25th 

 of May to the loth of June, the nest is often uncovered by the mowers 

 and the young destroyed on account of the practice, which is becoming 

 more and more prevalent, of mowing the meadows in June rather than 

 in July, as was formerly the custom. Consequently, the Bobolink is 

 becoming less common in most portions of New York. 



By the 20th of July the Bobolink's song has entirely ceased and only 

 a very few males at that date may be found that are still in the black and 

 white coat, and by the first week in August they will be found in the edge 

 of the swamps or in the tall meadows, the males, females and young almost 

 indistinguishable in color. They remain in this State until late in August 

 or early September when they visit the flowed lands of the Delaware and 

 Susquehanna and are known as Reed birds and are slaughtered by thousands 

 for the city market; but when they reach the coast of Carolina, Georgia 

 and Louisiana they become a scourge to the southern planters, descending 

 on the rice fields in such myriads that it is necessary to station many men 

 on every rice field and shoot several pounds of powder for each acre in 



