GEOSBEAK AND BOBOLINK 



199 



the Grosbeak's song, and that it made no im- 

 pression on me, even when these birds were 

 around me. Certainly it is no great singer, not 

 more than third-rate, at the best, or its song 

 would be more in evidence. It is celebrated 

 as an enemy of the potato-bug, and it feeds om- 

 nivorously upon other insects, buds, blossoms, 

 seeds and fruit. 



EOSE-BRE.\STED GROSBEAK. 



The range of this species is bounded by the 

 great Rocky Mountain barrier. Westward 

 thereof is found the Black-Headed Grosbeak, 

 and the arid lands of Texas, Arizona and south- 

 ern California are inhabited by the Western 

 Blue Grosbeak. 



The bluest bird that flies in North America 

 is the Indigo Bunting,' a trim little craft, built 

 and rigged like a warbler, and of warbler size. 

 Like the ocean, it is 



" Deeply, darkly, beautifully blue," 



— not the sky-blue of the jay, but like indigo. 

 In the East you cannot jjossibly mistake it. 

 The deep-blue bird of the Far West is the Lazuli 

 Bunting, our bird's nearest relative. 

 ' Cy-a'no-spi-za cy-a'ne-a. Length, 5. .50 inches. 



THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY. 



Icteridae. 



This Family includes several showy species 

 of birds which are very much in evidence, and 

 quite generally known to country dwellers. Five 

 representative and very interesting species will 

 be noticed. 



The Bobolink^ is a bird with two very dis- 

 tinct characters. It has a name and a suit of 

 feathers for the North, another suit and another 

 name in the South; and it has three reputa- 

 tions. 



When in springtime a certain jolly and vigor- 

 ous little song-bird comes up from the South, he 

 puts on a dress-suit of marvellous design, in 

 black, white, brown and gray, as shown on 

 page 178. He is then a regular swell, and his 

 name is Bobohnk. His mate, however, is a plain 

 httle bird, clad in yellowish-brown, with slight 

 trimmings of yellow and white. They frequent 

 the marshes and low meadows, nest on the ground, 

 and rear from five to seven young. 



That accomphshed, the male bird doffs his 

 pretty spring suit, acquires plumage like that 

 of the female, and then they go South. There 

 they become Rice-Birds, and they raid the rice- 

 fields of the southern states until they grow 

 quite fat. Next, enters the Man-With-a-Gun; 

 and the birds fall easy victims. The birds are 

 shot for two reasons: The rice-planters find 

 them a nuisance in their fields, and many people 

 think Rice-Birds are good eating. 



Consider the "Reed-Bird on toast," or, worse 

 still, "on a skewer." It is a trifle too large for 

 one mouthful, but by no means large enough for 

 two. A healthy, able-bodied American at work 

 upon this two-ounce bird with a ten-inch knife 

 is a sad but impressive spectacle. It is to be 

 hoped that it will be long ere the people of this 

 country really have cause to turn to this tiny 

 song-bird — or any other song-bird — as a source of 

 food with which to satisfy hunger. How can 

 any self-respecting man deliberately order so 

 pusillanimous a dish as "Reed-Birds on a skewer?" 

 There is a land so populous and poor that its peo- 

 ple eat sparrows because they need them for food ; 

 but it is far from America. 



The Bobolink is really a very acceptable singer, 

 ' Dol-i-cho'nyx o-ry-ziv'o-rus. Length, 6.75 inches. 



