Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-06-17
The GLORIOUS BOBOLINK.
Season Of The Year When He Fills tho Mead
0ws With Music.

Gus with song. The bobolink leads a
double life, and there are few other
birds whose habits are more curious
He sings during only two months OF
the year, May and June, but during
that brief season he sings with glorious
fervor. Those who have not heard the
song Of the bobolink are not acquaint-
ed with the most joyous of bird music
The bobolinks come up from the
South about the beginning of May in
travelling parties of 10 to 20. They fly
chiefly by night. and they appear sud
denly, as if they had dropped out of
| the sky, in all the meadows of the
Central and Northern states. They
pair off on their journey, and on their
arrival at their summer homes the fe-
| male proceeds at once to nest building
and the male to singing.
| The female bobolink is an humble
plain and Industrious bird. She wears
a coat of brown, Streaked with gray
and black, as modest as a housewives
| gingham. She makes no noise in the
world, leaving that her vivacious mate
She makes a plain nest Of gray in the
meadow, well hidden amid the clover
or the timothy, lays five or six purple
| splotched eggs and attends strictly to
her domestic duties.
| The male bobolnk looks and acts like
bird of an altogether different
| species. He is a gay fellow in costume
and behavior. Most of his coat is as
| black as the plumage of a blackbird
| Indeed. he is a cousin to the common
red-winged blackbird seen in the
| marshes. His shoulders and back are
ashy white and the nape of his neck is
| lemon colored. While the female is
setting and caring for her babies, the
male bObolink gives himself up to
hilarity and display. He flies and flut-
ters all about the meadow. He sits on
| the tip of a fence stake and pours
| forth the most voluble song. His notes
are bell-like, rollicking ana rapid. His
with the energy of his music. He can
| not sing fast enough. He tumbles the
notes one upon another. The music
| bubbles and pours and you might think
half a dozen birds were singing at
| once. Then he sails aloft, singing as
he flies. His opening strain is high
pitched as he circles over the meadow.
He hovers in the air, his wings nuttcr-
ing rapidly while his melody gurgles.
Then he slowly sinks toward the
clover, his tones growing lower in the
scale. The music descends with the
body, and the final low, faint notes are
uttered as the bird sinks out Of sight
amid the long grass.
1t is good to listen to the song of the
bobolink because it seems to be the
expression of intense happiness. The
bird appears to declare a state Of per
feet bliss. He dwells in bobolink
paradise and he sings song of
elysum. One cannot listen to his
music without feeling that he overfows
with enjoyment of the sunshine, the
green fields and the fragrance of the
luxuriant foliage and sweet flowers.
In the old country gardens, rich with
lilac, mountain currant, SNOWFALL,
honeysuckle and roses, the birds revel
in delight The senses are keenly de-
veloped in beasts and birds, and sweet
smells and bright colors surely fill
them with pleasure. The bobolink en-
joys May and June more than human
beings do, and his enjoyment is unal-
loyed by cares either Of the past or
future. Memory does not torment him
ana anticipation does not bring him
apprehension. He simply revels in
state Of consuming ecstasy, and his
song tells it to all who have the joy Of
listening.
4 wonderful change comes over the
hobolink about the first Of August. He
grows silent, his black and yellow
feathers are molted, and he takes on
clrb of streaked brown, like that Of the
| female. He loses entirely the charac-
| ter of Joyous singer. His voice be
comes only a peep. His young are
ready to fly and they are all brown
| Streaked like the parents. The bobo-
links then gather in large flocks ana
| devote themselves to gluttony- They
oven lose their early summer name ana
| bncnmn reed birds. They fly to the
river valleys and haunt the marshes
They feed on the grain of wild oats ana
If other plants They grow fat ana
| law ana become the prey OF shotgun
! hunters. Along the valleys Of ths
/ Delaware and Schuylllill and around
,be marshes of Delaware and Chesa-
/! naa1ze BAYS thousands Of them are
] slaughtered and served up as dalnties
Ion the tables Of the epicures OF Eastern
citias one who has heard the bopo-
ink singing over summer meadow
ran hardly bring himself to eat reeu
bird in a Philadelphia hotel
With October the reed bird mlsrateS