12 
THE RICE-BIRD.— BOB-O-LINK. 
York and Connecticut, and extend their journey to the easternmost of our 
districts, proceeding- also to the borders of Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, 
and the St. Lawrence. 
By this time they have become so plentiful, and have so dispersed all 
over the country, that it is impossible to see a meadow or a field of corn 
which does not contain several pairs of them. The beauty, or, perhaps more 
properly, the variety of their plumage, as well as of their song, attracts the 
attention of the bird-catchers. Great numbers are captured and exposed for 
sale in the markets, particularly in those of the city of New York. They 
are caught in trap-cages, and feed and sing almost immediately after. Many 
are carried to Europe, where the shipper is often disappointed in his profits, 
as by the time they reach there, the birds have changed their colours and 
seem all females. 
Whilst the love-season lasts, the males are .more sprightly than ever. 
Their song is mostly performed in the air, while they are rising and falling 
in successive jerks, which arc as amusing as thejingling of their vocal essays. 
The variety of their colours is at this juncture very remarkable. It is 
equally so, when, on rising from among the grass and flying away from the 
observer, they display the pure black and white of their wings and body. 
The nest of the Rice Bunting is placed on the ground, without much 
apparent care as to choice of situation, but always amongst the grass, or in 
a field of wheat or barley. It is composed of coarse dried grasses and 
leaves externally, and is lined with finer meadow grass. It appears large 
for the size of the bird. The female lays from four to six eggs, of a white 
colour, strongly tinged with dull blue, and irregularly spotted with blackish. 
They raise only one brood in a season. 
No sooner have the young left the nest, than they and their parents 
associate with other families, so that by the end of July large flocks begin 
to appear. They seem to come from every portion of the Eastern States, 
and already resort to the borders of the rivers and estuaries to roost. Their 
songs have ceased, the males have lost their gay livery, and have assumed 
the yellow hue of the females and young, although the latter arc more firm 
in their tints than the old males, and the whole begin to return southward, 
slowly and with a single clink, sufficient however to give intimation of their 
passage, as they fly high in long files during the whole day. 
Now begin their devastations. They plunder every field, but are shot in 
immense numbers. As they pass along the sea-shores, and follow the muddy 
edges of the rivers, covered at that season with full grown reeds, whose 
tops are bent down with the weight of the ripe seeds, they alight amongst 
them in countless multitudes, and afford abundant practice to every gunner. 
It is particularly towards sunset, and when the weather is fine, that the 
