26 



THE OOLOGIST. 



erwise alight on his favorite perch 

 and give vent to his bubbling emo- 

 tions. 



The favorite site of the male's per- 

 formances having been determined, 

 the female then does her part in re- 

 vealing the general location of the 

 nest. She is notoriously capricious in 

 her movements, and is likely to drop 

 into the grass anywhere at any im- 

 pulse when closely pursued. There is 

 one restricted area, however, in which 

 she is interested more than in all 

 else besides. She will alight in that 

 one locality more than in any other. 

 The observer may be occasionally 

 misled by annoying irregularities in 

 the vagaries of the modest bird; 

 there is, however, one particular part 

 of the meadow toward which she will 

 tend in the outcome of these capri- 

 cious moments, and the observer's 

 part is to determine the little area 

 which she seems to visit most often 

 within the larger area guarded by the 

 watchful actions of the male. After 

 several days of watching, the observer 

 should be able to guess quite closely 

 regarding the whereabouts of the 

 nests of the pairs under observation. 



Once I was spending an afternoon 

 in a little meadow where Bobolink 

 music was making the air vibrant 

 with melody. I was standing near the 

 edge of the meadow, and a male was 

 singing frantically on a fence post, the 

 nearest one, about twenty-one feet 

 from me. Wishing to test the matter, 

 I fired a little collecting gun I carried. 

 Instantly from the grass tuft within 

 three feet of me, directly in front, 

 out fluttered a female that had been 

 sitting on her nest, very near the 

 place I had seen her drop as she was 

 amorously pursued by the male a few 

 minute before. Now it was evident 

 to me that he was not singing to mis- 

 lead me. but to charm the ear of his 

 fair one in her nest; and I respect- 

 fully submit that the most of Bobo- 



link singing is for that purpose. 

 Furthermore, in my experience, he 

 sings most energetically though more 

 nervously around the site when the 

 nest is in danger of molestation. He 

 moves his station frequently, but is 

 apt to make more frequent use of the 

 favored platform for his nervous jin- 

 gles. 



On another occasion I decided defi- 

 nitely about the location of the nest 

 of a pair of Bobolinks. The male 

 was accustomed to prefer a small 

 thorn-bush in the middle of a small 

 meadow-marsh, and I had seen the fe- 

 male alight frequently in a little area 

 about forty feet from the hush, in the 

 the level grass of the meadow. On 

 one occasion, while the male was 

 singing eloquently on the bush, I 

 walked directly toward hirm and past 

 the site I had determined; as I ex- 

 pected the female*rose from the grass 

 near the place. Search as closely as 

 I might, however, no nest could be 

 found. I went away from the place, 

 and very soon the female stole through 

 the grass again in the same locality. 

 This time I ran as quickly as possible 

 to the place, and flushed the female 

 rather hastily, but again was unsuc- 

 cessful in the search. Again I went to 

 a safe distance, and again had the sat- 

 isfaction of seeing the female wend- 

 ing her way quietly but surely to the 

 place. To test my determination of 

 the site, I flung a stout stick into the 

 immediate area, and out came the 

 female; once more I made a bootless 

 quest for the nest. 



For the last time I allowed the fe- 

 male ample time to recover herself 

 and settle on the nest; then I cau- 

 tiously approached the place. When 

 I thought myself as near as. I could 

 get without starting from the nest, I 

 pitched forward my collecting box, 

 and out she came with a confusion of 

 wings and tail. Then I understood 

 the cause of my former sorties. It 



