44 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 
gables, lacking its’greatest charm and most fitting 
adornment. In the northern States the bobolink fills 
the place that the skylark does in Europe. Their songs 
considerably resemble each other; both are ecstatic 
singers, and both sing poised on the wing. The bobo- 
link, however,sings also at rest, and never mounts to such 
heights in the air as the lark does. He sometimes starts 
the song while in flight, and finishes it from a perch on 
a bush or tree. Always nervous and active, and never 
quiet but for a minute at a time, he seems to get equal 
enjoyment in flight and in song. The bobolinks are 
pre-eminently birds of the open country, yet one need 
not necessarily go beyond the city to find them. They 
appear occasionally in the Park Meadow, where they 
and the meadow larks might become plentiful if it were 
not for the early mowing of the grass, which prevents 
their nesting in the meadow. But any pleasant day 
from May till August you can hear them singing in the 
fields just north of Jewett Avenue, where their presence 
still preserves a pastoral appearance to that delightful 
suburb. Several pairs nested in the vicinity last sum- 
mer. My only regret at seeing those pretty houses 
multiply so rapidly in that inviting section is the 
thought that each new house will diminish the number 
of singers in those delightful afternoon concerts which 
I so frequently attend. 
