WHERE SWALLOWS ROOST 95 
upward by the mine of melody which explodes with- 
in them. 
Swamp Sparrows are common, and their clear 
trill is one of the few August songs. Bobolinks, 
traveling in disguise and under the assumed name 
of “ Reedbird,” pause here to feed on the ripening 
wild rice.” Some of them have not yet completed 
their change of costume and appear in a spotted suit 
of black and yellow. Occasionally one hears a sup- 
pressed burst of the “ mad music” of June, but their 
common note is a metallic chink. At night this 
note is heard from high in the air, as the birds con- 
tinue their journey to the cultivated rice fields of 
South Carolina and Georgia, there to remain until 
September or October, when they leave for their 
winter home south of the Amazon. 
The Sora Rails, beloved of sportsmen and epi- 
cures, are also attracted to the marshes by the wild 
rice. On their arrival in early August they are in- 
deed “as thin as a rail,’ but an abundance of food 
soon rounds their bodies into comparative plump- 
ness. The Ist of September is a black day in their 
calendar. Then they are outlawed, a price is set on 
their bodies, and at high tide each day during this 
sad month one sees numerous puffs of smoke arise 
from the tall grasses and dull reports come boom- 
ing over the marsh with fateful frequency. 
But the characteristic birds of the marshes at this 
season are Swallows. They outnumber many times 
all the rest of the marsh birds together—in fact, are 
present in such myriads that their gatherings are 
one of the most interesting and impressive phenom- 
ena of the bird life of this region. 
