Open Nests on the Ground 
edge of some likely looking field, and watch each female bobo- 
link as she drops in the long grass to where you think her nest 
may be; but when you arrive at the place she flies up, and in 
vain you may search for the carefully concealed nest. The most 
satisfactory method is for two persons to walk through the field 
holding either end of a cord along which sticks should be 
fastened at intervals. These striking the grass frighten the sitting 
bird, and she flies up directly from the nest, instead of running 
along through the grass, as she MSUENy does when she sees her 
disturber. 
The best place to find these birds during the breeding time 
is in the large tracts of moderately moist meadow land, usually 
not very far from water. The nest is completed about May 15th 
in northern New Jersey. 
Long before the breeding season the male is conspicuous 
with his fine feathers, but in early August he dons the same 
colours as his mate and children, when they all start in large flocks 
for their winter quarters in South America, stopping ina leisurely 
manner en route among the reedy swamps, and visiting again the 
rice-fields which were in the springtime the scene of the depre- 
dations of the old birds. Then it is no longer a day of riotous 
song; that day is forgotten, for now it is that the so-called 
sportsman claims them under the name of Reedbird, and instead 
of being seen perched on the tall swaying grass or reed, you 
may look for them in the markets, hung upin bundles of a dozen 
or so, each happy little life gone, leaving but a mouthful or two 
of food. 
501. Meadowlark: Sturnella magna (Linn.) 
Eggs white spotted with reddish brown, chiefly at the 
larger end. 
See Page 73, Chapter III. 
540. Vesper Sparrow; Bay-winged Bunting: Pooceetes 
gramineus (Gmel.) 
Adult—Upper parts brownish gray with dark streaks ; tail dark 
brown, the outer feathers white; under parts grayish buff 
streaked with black. Length—6, 12. 
Breeding Range—From southern Virginia northward ; westward 
to the plains. 
42 
