204 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.: Family leteridae. 



BOBOLINK; RICE-BIRD; OAT-BIRD: Dolichonyx 

 oryzivorus (Linnaeus). 



State records. — The bobolink is a regular and not uncom- 

 mon spring migrant, but is rare in the fall. It summers chief- 

 ly in the Northern States and southern Canada and in autumn 

 migrates southward along the Atlantic seaboard. Migrants 

 from the south appear during the latter part of April and 

 linger till the middle of May. First arrivals were noted at 

 Leighton, April 21 (1891), and April 30 (1893), some remain- 

 ing each year till May 16. On May 14, 1889, Mr. McCormack 

 saw an immense flock in an oat field at Leighton and over 

 100 were shot. At Barachias the birds appeared April 23, 

 1912, and at Auburn, April 25, 1912. Dr. Avery noted a few 

 at Greensboro, May 11 and 15, 1889, and a few on Dauphin 

 Island September 21, 1892, the latter being the only autumn 

 record of the species. At Mobile, May 9, 1911, about 20, 

 mainly females, were seen in the marshes, and a few strag- 

 glers were noted there as late as May 18. A small flock, con- 

 sisting of females, was seen in an oat field at Seale, May 22, 

 1914, and the following day two birds, a male and a female, 

 at Fitzpatrick. 



General habits. — The bobolink in its summer home lives in 

 the rich hay meadows of the Northern States, where it is 

 greatly appreciated for its rollicking, exuberant song, de- 

 livered as the bird floats on quivering wings over the nesting 

 grounds. In early fall the birds begin their southward mi- 

 gration and, having assumed a new and different plumage, 

 are known by the names of "reed-bird" in the middle districts 

 and "rice-bird" in the South. They gather into immense 

 flocks in the tidal marshes of the Atlantic coast and grow very 

 fat upon the wild rice and other native grasses as well as on 

 cultivated rice and other grains. At this season, thousands 

 are shot for food and sport, and before the cultivation of rice 

 ceased in South Carolina (about 1906) large numbers were 

 destroyed by the rice planters in efforts to protect their fields. 



Returning late in April and May from their winter sojourn 

 in South America, they again visit the grain fields of the 



