244 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
blotched, splashed, or clouded, with a dark, dull brown. The 
colors are, however, variable, occasionally resembling those of 
the Rose-breasted Grosbeak’s egg. 
(c). The Bobolinks are common summer-residents of New 
England, but chiefly in the southern parts. From other writers 
it may be gathered that they pass the winter far to the south- 
ward (being, according to Gosse, migrants through Jamaica), 
enter the Gulf States in large flocks during March or April, 
and thence proceed northward, plundering on their way the 
farmers, and in Virginia doing ‘“‘great damage to the early 
wheat and barley, while in its milky state.” They reach Bos- 
ton (but never in flocks) about the tenth of May, and are soon 
dispersed over the grassy fields, orchards, and meadows, which 
are their summer-homes. There they may be seen in pairs, 
perched on some tree or fence, while the male carols to his 
mate, or walking on the ground in search of their food, which 
consists of seeds, of spiders, beetles, and other insects. There 
they build their nests, which are by no means easily found, 
being often artificially concealed by the parents, and naturally 
protected by the uniformity of the long grass everywhere near 
them. In the latter part of July, or in August, the males 
gradually lose their summer-dress, and resemble the females, 
with whom, as well as with their young, they associate, some- 
times in great numbers. They then frequent the sea-shore, 
visit the grain-fields, and do mischief by eating oats and corn. 
They also begin their journey to the South, and may be heard 
flying overhead even at night, when their note is distinct in the 
general silence. What instinct or sense enables birds to mi- 
grate so accurately is yet unexplained, but how they can, as 
many species do, travel several hundred miles by night, is still 
further a mystery. 
The Reed-birds “about the middle of August” says Wilson 
‘revisit Pennsylvania on their rout to winter quarters. For 
several days they seem to confine themselves to the fields and 
uplands; but as soon as the seeds of the reed are ripe they 
resort to the shores of the Delaware and Schuylkill in multi- 
tudes; and these places, during the remainder of their stay, 
