GROSBEAK AND BOBOLINK 
199 
the Grosbeak’s song, and that it made no im- 
pression on me, even when these birds were 
around me. Certainly it is no great singer, not 
more than third-rate, at the best, or its song 
would be more in evidence. It is celebrated 
as an enemy of the potato-bug, and it feeds om- 
nivorously upon other insects, buds, blossoms, 
seeds and fruit. 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
The range of this species is bounded by the 
great Rocky Mountain barrier. Westward 
thereof is found the Black-Headed Grosbeak, 
and the arid lands of Texas, Arizona and south- 
ern California are inhabited by the Western 
Blue Grosbeak. 
The bluest bird that flies in North America 
is the Indigo Bunting , 1 a trim little craft, built 
and rigged like a warbler, and of warbler size. 
Like the ocean, it is 
“ Deeply, darkly, beautihilly blue,” 
— not the sky-blue of the jay, but like indigo. 
In the East you cannot possibly mistake it. 
The deep-blue bird of the Far West is the Lazuli 
Bunting, our bird’s nearest relative. 
1 Cy-a'no-spi-za cy-a'ne-a. Length, 5.50 inches. 
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY. 
Icteridae. 
This Family includes several showy species 
of birds which are very much in evidence, and 
quite generally known to country dwellers. Five 
representative and very interesting species will 
be noticed. 
The Bobolink 3 is a bird with two very dis- 
tinct characters. It has a name and a suit of 
feathers for the North, another suit and another 
name in the South; and it has three reputa- 
tions. 
When in springtime a certain jolly and vigor- 
ous little song-bird comes up from the South, he 
puts on a dress-suit of marvellous design, in 
black, white, brown and gray, as shown on 
page 178. He is then a regular swell, and his 
name is Bobolink. His mate, however, is a plain 
little bird, clad in yellowish-brown, with slight 
trimmings of yellow and white. They frequent 
the marshes and low meadows, nest on the ground, 
and rear from five to seven young. 
That accomplished, the male bird doffs his 
pretty spring suit, acquires plumage like that 
of the female, and then they go South. There 
they become Rice-Birds, and they raid the rice- 
fields of the southern states until they grow 
quite fat. Next, enters the Man-With-a-Gun ; 
and the birds fall easy victims. The birds are 
shot for two reasons: The rice-planters find 
them a nuisance in their fields, and many people 
think Rice-Birds are good eating. 
Consider the “Reed-Bird on toast,” or, worse 
still, “on a skewer.” It is a trifle too large for 
one mouthful, but by no means large enough for 
two. A healthy, able-bodied American at work 
upon this two-ounce bird with a ten-inch knife 
is a sad but impressive spectacle. It is to be 
hoped that it will be long ere the people of this 
country really have cause to turn to this tiny 
song-bird — or any other song-bird — as a source of 
food with which to satisfy hunger. How can 
any self-respecting man deliberately order so 
pusillanimous a dish as “Reed-Birds on a skewer?” 
There is a land so populous and poor that its peo- 
ple eat sparrows because they need them for food; 
but it is far from America. 
The Bobolink is really a very acceptable singer, 
2 Dol-i-cho'nyx o-ry-ziv'o-rus. Length, 6.75 inches. 
