138 Twelve Months With 



They are the most numerous and the most 

 musical about the first of June. They resemble 

 in appearance a small-sized meadowlark, as they 

 have a black patch on the throat and a yellow 

 breast, and back streaked with black and pale 

 grayish-brown. Their manner of flying, however, 

 is wholly different, resembling more nearly the 

 irregular flight of the bobolink than the regular 

 alternate flutter and soar of the meadowlark. They 

 have the thick bill of the sparrow, and in 

 immature plumage may easily be mistaken for a 

 female bobolink or a large sparrow. There is 

 one sure guide to its identity, however, and that 

 is its song. It may be described as "Tsip! Tsip! 

 Tsee tsee tsee tsee!" the first note higher than the 

 rest, and the last four notes running oflf almost 

 into a trill. 



During the mating and nesting season this song 

 is repeated incessantly. The notes have a distinct 

 nasal quality and are earnestly and enthusiastically 

 rendered, time and again, the bird throwing its 

 head back and putting its whole soul into the 

 performance. 



While the first nest of bobwhite is built in May, 

 I always associate him with the wheat fields of 

 July and August. Indeed, he whistles quite as 

 much then as earlier in the summer, calling to 

 his mate and to the large family of chicks they 

 have raised during the summer. 



The poets have shown almost as much fondness 

 for bobwhite as they have for the bobolink, and 



