THE BOBOLINK 81 



closely and formed such a compact mass, that 

 though there were five of them, they preserved 

 the unit of expression, — no single head or form 

 was defined ; they were one, and that one was 

 without shape or color, and not separable, except 

 by closest scrutiny, from the one of the meadow- 

 bottom. That nest prospered, as bobolinks' nests 

 doubtless generally do ; for, notwithstanding the 

 enormous slaughter of the birds by Southern 

 sportsmen during their fall migrations, the bobo- 

 link appears to hold its own, and its music does 

 not diminish in our Northern meadows. 



