494. (American Ornithologists' Union check-list #) Bobolink: Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linn.) Adult male--Breeding plumage: Forehead, throat, and under parts black, the feathers being slightly tipped with light buff during the earlier part of the season; back of head and neck light buff; back, dark dusky feathers with buff markings; upper part of rump whitish; wings and tail black, the tail feathers having pointed tips. Adult female--Upper parts dark buff with black streaks; wings and tail brown; under parts light buff. Adult male--Except during breeding season and when immature resembles the female. Length--7.25. Breeding Range--Southern New York to Nova Scotia, west as far as Utah. The nest is placed on the ground in meadows, and is formed of grass with occasionally a few leaves, the inside being lined with fine grass. Usually it is an open nest about one and a half inches deep inside, but sometimes it is partly concealed by grass bent over so as to form a sort of rough arch. 3 to 6 and rarely 7 eggs are laid. They vary greatly both in colour and size, ranging from white with distinct chocolate markings, to grayish buff with large brown blotches which nearly cover the ground colour; in size they range from about .55 x .79 to .66 x .90--the average is about .63 x .85. See Fig. 2, Plate B. He who has not had the pleasure of hearing and seeing the Bobolink during the breeding season has a great treat in store. This sweet little songster seems to be the very embodiment of pure happiness, spending most of his time singing the song that has inspired both poet and author. Probably no bird of the New World has been so frequently mentioned in the literature of the country. While the bird is in flight the song is particularly enchanting, reminding one to a certain extent of the European skylark, though it is perhaps richer in tone. To find the bird is very different from finding the nest; it takes many hours of patient searching. You may hide near the edge of some likely looking field, and watch each female bobolink as she drops in the long grass to where you think her nest may be; but when you arrive at the place she flies up, and in vain you may search for the carefully concealed nest. The most satisfactory method is for two persons to walk through the field holding either end of a cord along which sticks should be fastened at intervals. These striking the grass frighten the sitting bird, and she flies up directly from the nest, instead of running along through the grass, as she usually does when she sees her disturber. The best place to find these birds during the breeding time is in the large tracts of moderately moist meadow land, usually not very far from water. The nest is completed about May 15th in northern New Jersey. Long before the breeding season the male is conspicuous with his fine feathers, but in early August he dons the same colours as his mate and children, when they all start in large flocks for their winter quarters in South America, stopping in a leisurely manner en route among the reedy swamps, and visiting again the rice-fields which were in the springtime the scene of the depredations of the old birds. Then it is no longer a day of riotous song; that day is forgotten, for now it is that the so-called sportsman claims them under the name of Reedbird, and instead of being seen perched on the tall swaying grass or reed, you may look for them in the markets, hung up in bundles of a dozen or so, each happy little life gone, leaving but a mouthful or two of food.