THE LIVING WORLD. 
345 
The Hedge Accentor ( Accentor modular/us) is a rather rare bird in America, 
though occasionally met with in the Western States. In Europe, however, it 
is quite common. It is a small bird, about five inches long, bluish-gray on 
the back with brown streaks on the neck. The quill-feathers are of a dark- 
brown, and the abdomen white with a wash of pale buff. It haunts the habi¬ 
tations of man, and builds its nest at a low elevation, of moss, wool and hair, 
and lays five eggs of a bluish-green color. The female often lays five sets of 
eggs but rarely. raises more than a single brood. 
The Rice-bird, or Bob-o’-link [Dolichonyx orizyvoms), small of body as it is, 
nevertheless has the distinction of being a game-bird, whose flesh is very highly 
esteemed, and in season is hunted with a persistency greater than marks the 
pursuit of any other bird. He has also the further distinction of many names, 
being known in the South as Rice-bird , in the Middle States as Reed-bird, in 
the Northern States as Bob-o' -link, and locally called May-bird, Meadow-bird, 
Butter-bird, Skunk-bird (on account of the color of its plumage), and American 
Ortolan. He winters in the south, but comes north early in April, and is most 
plentiful in New York and New Jersey about the middle of May. They arrive 
usually in flocks of a dozen, and begin at once the building of their nests, 
which are located on the ground under a tussock of grass, and composed of 
small grasses rather deftly arranged, in which five or six eggs are laid, of a 
dirty-white, splotched with rufous-brown. During the season of courtship the 
male is dressed in a bright coat of black, crown of head cream color, feathers 
on the shoulder and rump white, and tip of tail feathers a pale-brownish ash. 
Towards autumn, however, his raiment seems the worse for wear, and he looks 
like a member of the shabby genteel. He now has a dull coat, two stripes 
upon his head and sides, sparsely streaked with brown. Naturalists have gen¬ 
erally given him a bad name as the devourer of wheat, barley and corn, when 
in the milky state, but while this charge may be true, the bob-o' 1 -link renders 
inestimable service in return for his depredations. He is known to feed almost 
exclusively, during the breeding season, off caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, 
spiders, crickets and the seeds of wild grasses. Recent investigation also proves 
that they devour immense numbers of the larvae of the cotton-worm. 
The bob-o'-link is a charming singer, whether as soloist or in concert, for 
he sings equally well whether piping to his mate or adding his voice to a 
hundred others, as they often do. But when busy with courtship, each cock 
pays court to the hen of his choice, and sings for her his most entrancing 
melody. There are few things more delightful than on a June morning, when 
all the earth and sky blend in sweetest harmony, when the scent of apple- 
blossoms has not been wholly dissipated, to lie in a soft, refreshing bed of 
luxuriant grass, and listen to the bob-o'-link's song of wooing. He sits upon a 
yielding reed a moment, then rises on trembling wing high into the air,, at.the 
same time pouring out a wonderful succession of tinkling, vibrating, ringing, 
rollicking notes, wheeling and whistling bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, and then jangling 
off into a succession of the sweetest melody which betrays his rapture. 
Though no larger than the English sparrow, beautiful of plumage, charm¬ 
ing in manner, an exquisite minstrel, and most useful as an insect destroyer, 
yet this elegant little bird is most cruelly persecuted, millions being shot and 
trapped for the eastern markets, where they sell at a most extravagant price. 
Bryant’s poems on this bird under the title of “ Robert of Lincoln,” and the 
