The most likely place to find him is in old, bush-grown
pastures, and along the lane hedges; like all the bright-
hued birds he is beset by enemies both of earth and sky,
but his Sparrow instinct, which has a. love for mother-
earth, bids him build near the ground. The dangers of the
nesting-time fall mostly to his share, for his dull brown
mate is easily overlooked as an insignificant Sparrow. Na-
ture almost always gives a plain coat to the Wives of these
gayly dressed cavaliers, for her primal thought is the safety
of the home and its young life.
FAMILY ICTERIDIE: BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. Bobolink: Dolichonyw oryzivorus. Afler moult Reed-bird.
PLATE 35.
Length: 6.50-7 inches.
Male: Black head, chin. tail, wings, and under parts. Bufi patch on back of neck; also bufi edges to some tail and wing feathers. Rump and upper wing coverts White. Bill brown. In autumn similar to female.
Female: Below yellowish brown. Above striped brown, except on rump, with yellow and white tips to some feathers. Two dark stripes on crown.
Song: A delightful, incoherent melody; sung oftentimes as the bird soars upward.
Season : Early May to October.
Breeds: From the middle United States northward, and winters south of the United States.
Nest: A loose heap of twigs and grass on the ground in low meadows and hay-fields ; common, but very difficult to discover.
Eggs: 4-6, clear gray, with clouds and markings of dark brown‘.
Range: Eastern North America to the Great Plains, north to south- ern Canada; south, in winter, to the West Indies and South America.
The Bobolink, the bird of two lives in one! The wild, ecstatic black and buff singer, who soars above the May meadows, leaving a trail of rippling music, and in autumn the brown striped bird who, voiceless but for a metallic
“chink,” is hunted through the marshes by the gunners,
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