How to Find the Nest of the 
Bobolink. 
The nest of the Bobolink will remain undis- 
covered until you know how to And it. I have 
had much experience with this bird, and I 
never found its nest until I thoroughly under- 
stood its habits. 
, Last year I spent part of the spring at 
Amherst, Mass. In one of my walks I discov- 
ered several fields where Bobolinks were 
breeding. 1 immediately set to work to dis- 
co, ver their nests. After flushing several birds 
and searching over a radius of fifty or sixty 
feet from their point of flight I had to own up 
defeated. I tried this for a week, but no nest 
rewarded my efforts and I decided to practise 
new methods. 
I had noticed that ninety-nine times out of a 
hundred the bird flushed was not on the nest, 
but simply feeding, and when by accident I 
flushed one from the nest she invariably rose 
quite a distance off. As I would approach 
these fields the birds ( mostly males) would rise 
in all directions and alight on the nearest 
fences. After observing these facts I em- ! 
ployed my new tactics. 
Rising early the next morning I reached the 
fields in good time. Starting from one corner 
I ran all over the field shouting as loudly as 
possible. Of course a perfect swarm of Bob- 
olinks flew up, and after scolding over my 
head for a moment flew away out of sight. I 
I now had the whole field to myself. In the 
j centre grew a large, solitary maple tree. Into 
this I immediately climbed and began to 
watch. After waiting about an hour I saw a 
single female Bobolink flying cautiously over 
the field: seeing nothing and believing all safe 
she suddenly stopped and dropped swiftly 
downwards into the grass. I marked the spot 
with my eye and, descending without noise, 
I walked slowly and softly toward the place 
I had marked. 
Wbirr-iT-rr! Up she flew, and I, stooping 
over, saw a sweet little nest with six eggs 
directly beneath my eyes. 
I practised this method continually and it 
seldom failed. If there be no natural cover, 
build a small cylindrical brush blind with 
orifices through the side for seeing; but do 
not fail to cover the top, that no inquisitive 
Bobolink can fly overhead and peer in. 
R. II. White, Jr. 
Boston, Mas . 
0.8s O.Vol. 17, April 1892 P. 50 
a icw i^ests Collected at Gonrw&ll.Vt. 
Spring-1886. C. H. Parkhill. 
Runt Egg of Bobolink. 
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). Collected 
June 1st. The nest was well hidden in the 
tall grass, and contained seven fresh eggs. I 
flushed the old bird while driving through the 
meadow, and several times that I frightened 
her off she rose up and flew across the meadow, 
without trying in any way to decoy me away 
from her eggs. 
O.&Q. XIV. Oot. 1389 p 150 
A remarkable runt egg of the Bobolink 
(Dolichonyx oryzivorus) was found June 10, 
1887, at Damariscotta, Maine, in a nest con- 
taining six other ordinary sized eggs of this 
bird. The runt measures .53 x .50, and is 
almost round. In coloration it resembles 
others in the set, but when it is remembered 
that the average size is about .84 x .65, it will 
be se . J P. N. 
>91 j p, 
J P. N. 
