192 BIRDS OF THE WORLD 



The eggs are whitish, with irregular dark lines and a 

 few spots. 



One of our best known American song-birds is the 

 Bobolink, Reed-bird or Rice-bird. The male of this 

 species has two distinct phases of plumage. In the 

 breeding season, the head, throat, and under parts of 

 wings, and tail, are black, the fore part of the back 

 buffy, the scapulars and upper tail-coverts dingy 

 white. In the fall, after the breeding season, these 

 feathers are all moulted, and the Bobolink assumes 

 the streaked olive and buff colours of the female and 

 young. At this time, during their migration to South 

 America, these birds stop on their way to visit the rice- 

 fields of the Southern States, gorging themselves with 

 the rice until they become very fat. When in this con- 

 dition they are esteemed a great delicacy and are shot 

 in large numbers to supply the table. 



The Bobolink has a rich, melodious voice. His song 

 has been described as "an irrepressible outburst; a 

 flood of melody from a heart overflowing with the joy 

 of early summer." 



Another very common bird of this country is the 

 Red-winged Blackbird. Its name is taken from the 

 colour of its lesser wing-coverts, which are a bright 

 crimson, showing conspicuously in flight, but not 

 visible when the wing is closed. The middle wing- 

 coverts are yellowish, all the rest of the plumage is 

 glossy black. The colouring of the female is much like 

 that of a common Sparrow. 



This bird breeds from the Gulf of Mexico to Can- 

 ada, and winters southward from Virginia. Its nest 

 is built in bushes and reeds in swampy ground. 



