BOBOLINKS OR REEDBIRDS. 



19 



would be no objection to utilizing the bird for food were it not for the 

 abuse to which this custom of killing it for market has given rise. Not 

 only are other birds killed for reedbirds, but in States in which reed- 

 birds do not occur marketmen try to make up the deficiency by fur- 

 nishing various small birds under that name. In the markets of San 

 Francisco horned larks (Otocoris), red-winged blackbirds {Agelaius), 

 Brewer's blackbirds (Scolecophagv^s), white-crowned and golden-crowned 



Fig. 4. — Bobolink {Doliclwnyx oryzivoru. 



sparrows (Zonotriohia), song sparrows (Melospisa), savanna sparrows 

 (Ammodmm'us), house finches {Carpodacus), and even goldfinches 

 {Astragalinus), have all been sold as reedbirds. 1 Such conditions serve 

 only to defeat the object of protective laws, and for this reason, if 

 for no other, reedbirds should be taken off the game list, except in 

 the few States in which they are known to be abundant; and even here 

 their sale should be carefully regulated to prevent the slaughter of 

 robins, larks, and other birds, which are almost certain to be killed by 

 market hunters. 



1 Bryant, Zoe, II, pp. 142-145, 1891. 



