BOBOLINK 
Called also: Reedhird; Ricehird; Ortolan; Mayhird 
Such a rollicking, jolly singer is the bobolink! 
On a May morning, when buttercups spangle 
the fresh grasses in the meadows, he rises from 
their midst into the air with the merriest frolic 
of a song you ever heard. Loud, clear, strong, 
full of queer kinks and twists that could not 
possibly be written down in our musical scale^ 
the rippling, reckless music seems to keep his 
wings in motion as well as his throat ; for when 
it suddenly bursts forth, up he shoots into the 
air like a skylark, and paddles himself along 
with just the tips of his wings while it is the 
“mad music” that seemingly propels him : — then 
he drops with his song into the grass again. 
Frequently he pours out his hilarious melody 
while swaying on the slender stems of the 
grasses, propped by the stiff, pointed feathers 
of his tail. A score or more of bobolinks rising 
in some open meadow all day long, are worth 
travelling miles to hear. 
If you were to see the mate of one of these 
merry minstrels apart from him, you might 
easily mistake her for another of those tiresome 
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