BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 288 



bird or rice bird. They feed upon both insect and vege- 

 table material while nesting, and in the North are highly 

 beneficial, as they consume vast numbers of insects while 

 nesting. Later, in August and September, rice is their 

 principal food, and they are slaughtered in numbers in the 

 rice fields of the South. 



No nest is harder to find, considering the abundance of 

 the bird, than that of the bobolink. The nest is placed on 

 the ground, usually in a little hollow flush with the sur- 

 face. Sometimes the vegetation so cleverly conceals the 

 nest, containing four to seven darkly spotted eggs, that one 

 must carefully part the grass blades in order to see the 

 hidden treasures. JNIany nests, however, are placed in open 

 situations where the grass is short and scant. When you 

 infer that the male is pouring forth his eloquence to vie 

 with the neighboring bobolinks, he is really cautioning his 

 mate and warning her of your presence; he sweeps about 

 and at the psychological moment inserts into his music the 

 bobolink signal. Madam gently arises from her nest and 

 moves through the grass until she is probably fifty feet 

 away before she ventures to expose herself, or in any way 

 seems to recognize your presence. The nest may be in any 

 direction from where you first discover the female, and 

 neither parent is inclined to aid you in your difficult search. 

 If the eggs are about to hatch or if the nestUngs require the 

 mother's warmth, she is loath to regard the warning notes 

 of her mate, and may allow you to almost tread upon her 

 before she flutters reluctantly away. 



Other names: Rice Bird, Reed Bird, Rice Bunting, 

 Reed Bunting, Butter Bird, Rice Troopial, Bobolinkum. 



