4= 



The Hawkeye Ornithologist and Oologist. 



nearly that of the common pewee, 

 but is smaller, and so exactly resem- 

 bles the Acadian flycatcher that I 'do 

 not believe any one can tell the two 

 birds apart. Two years ago last 

 June I procured a specimen of each 

 for comparison and had it not been 

 for the manner in which they were 

 shot it would have been impossible 

 for me to have told them, one from 

 the other. Nor can their eggs be 

 identified one from the other with 

 any degree of certainty. B it these 

 birds build a different nest in differ- 

 ent localities, and their notes are not 

 alike. If it was not for this, they 

 would seem to be identical. As to 

 the time of the Traill's flycatcher's 

 arrival and departure with us, I am 

 unable to speak, so silently do they 

 come and go. More might ba said of 

 this interesting bird, but feeling that 

 the time allowed me for this reading 

 has about expired and thanking you 

 for your kind attention I will close. 



For the Hawkeye 0. and 0. 



THE BOBOLINK. 



(Doliclionyx oryzivorus. 



BY FRANK L. BURNS, BKRWYN, 

 CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 



This bird is a common migrant in 

 this state, and is known as the reed- 

 bird in the fall. At this time thous- 

 ands are shot along the Deleware 

 river, where they fatten on the seed 

 of the wild oats or reed; numerous 

 small flocks pass through here, feed- 

 ing on wild cherries, sheep-berries, 

 etc. They are eagerly sought for, 

 and bring about seventy-five cents a 

 dozen in the Philadelphia markets. 



A writer in the January number of 

 the H. O. and O. deplores th» appar- 

 ent decrease of this species; but resi- 

 dents of the New England States 

 hear and see only the beautiful song- 

 ster. Pennsylvanians regard it as a 



game bird; and the Southerners, as a 

 destructive nuisance. 



One has only to read the report of 

 the ornithologist, in the 1886 report 

 of the department of agriculture, to 

 know something of the sad havoc 

 they play in the rice fields of the 

 South. 



"To prevent the total destruction 

 of the crop during the periods of bird 

 invasion, thousands of men and boys, 

 called, bird-minders' are employed; 

 hundreds of thousands of pounds of 

 powder are burned, and millions of 

 birds killed. Still the number of 

 birds invading the rice fields each 

 year seems in no way diminished, 

 and the aggregate annual loss they 

 occasion is about $2,000,000." The 

 bobolink rarely breeds in this state. 

 I know of but two instances of their 

 nests being found in this county. 



Giddings, Texas, Jan. 12, 1888. 

 EDiToas Hawkeye 0. and O: 



Please i ccept t lanks for Vol.1, No. 

 1, of your magazine, which came a 

 lew days ago. It is much above the 

 average in many respects. 



I have a few remarks to make on 

 some of the contents of No. 1. On 

 page 2, there is an aesthetic wail, be- 

 cause the ''bobolink" failed to put in 

 an appearance. The Unit 3d States 

 Ornithologist has been making some 

 investigations about this species and 

 I copy from his report on its ravages. 

 "One of the most important indus- 

 tries of the southern states, the cul- 

 tivation of rice, is crippled and made 

 precarious by the bi-annual attacks 



of birds the bird which docs 



more injury than all the rest com- 

 bined, is the bobolink of the north 



called 'rice-bird' in the south, 



To prevent total destruction of the 



crop thousands of men and boys, 



called 'bird-minders' are employed, 

 hundreds of thousands of rounds of 

 of birds are killed, still the number of 



